COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Attorneys for the death row inmate are asking a judge to reduce his sentence to life.
They say the abuse Stacey Humphreys suffered as a child played a significant role in him murdering two real estate agents.
“Mr. Humphreys endured years of arbitrary beatings,’ Humphreys attorney, Brian Kammer, told a judge.
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Kammer said Humphreys had a horrible childhood. He said he was sexually abused, beaten and burned with cigarettes.
Kammer told a Cobb County judge that childhood history explains a lot about why Humphreys ended up on death row.
“These folks are abused, harmed as children as young people and it’s coming out in criminal behavior. ”
A Cobb County jury convicted Humphreys on murder charges in 2004 for the 2003 deaths of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year- old Lori Brown. The real estate agents were executed in the sales office of a new subdivision.
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Humphreys attorneys asked the court to stay his execution on the basis of Survivor Justice Act. Cobb County Judge Tyler Browning agreed to the stay of execution.
In the order Tuesday night, it stated:
“A stay of execution shall be granted under separate order so that, as requested by the State, the State may appeal the court’s decision that the Defendant is entitled to a hearing, and so that the State shall have adequate time to prepare for a hearing on the merits. The court will confer with all counsel to arrange for a hearing date around sixty days from today’s date.”
Meanwhile, the Pardons and Parole Board denied an application by Humphreys for clemency.
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