ATLANTA — Brandon Jones, 72, was put to death by lethal injection early Wednesday morning for the 1979 murder of a Cobb County store manager.
The Georgia Department of Corrections said Jones was put to death at 12:46 a.m. after he accepted a final prayer and recorded a final statement.
Jones was convicted in October 1979 and sentenced to death. A federal judge in 1989 ordered a new sentencing hearing because jurors had improperly been allowed to bring a Bible into the deliberation room. Jones was resentenced to death in 1997.
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied a clemency request Monday.
Several protesters stood outside the prison in Jackson Tuesday night, praying that a stay from the United State Supreme Court would save Jones’ life.
“He’s a worthwhile human being and I always try to stress the human dignity of it,” Deacon Richard Tolcher of the Archdiocese of Atlanta told Channel 2’s Carl Willis. “I’ve seen so many of these guys, personally, who are not the same person they were at 22, 24.”
For several people involved in the case, this day brings up old emotions .
“You don't know how you will face that someone you know being put to death,” said veteran criminal defense attorney Mike Treadaway.
Treadaway, who defended Jones during his sentencing re-trial in 1997, says he’s not sure how the day will affect him.
“It's a situation where there's strong emotions surrounding the jury, the judge and the lawyers,” he said.
Jones' co-defendant in the murder of Roger Tackett was executed years ago, but appeals and a re-sentencing has kept Jones' case going until now.
Tackett, a 35-year-old father managing a store, which is now a popular shop on Marietta's Delk Road, was shot execution style by Jones and an accomplice.
Current District Attorney Vic Reynolds was in college when the murder happened in 1979. He spent time with Tackett's wife and daughter Monday at the clemency hearing.
“Even some 37 years (later) it’s amazing the toll it still takes on these people, the emotional strife they've been through. It’s been a difficult time,” Reynolds said. “We certainly realize the gravity and it certainly takes a toll on everyone involved in it."
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