Convicted Rapist, Murderer Set To Be Executed In GA; 1st Since 2020

ATLANTA — A man who was convicted of kidnapping, robbing, raping, and then killing a woman over 30 years ago is set to be executed this month — the first execution in Georgia since 2020.

Willie James Pye, 59, is scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m., March 20, in the murder of Alicia Lynn Yarborough, Attorney General Chris Carr announced Thursday.

A Spalding County Superior Court order filed Thursday established a seven-day window of noon, March 20, to noon, March 27, for the execution of Pye, Carr said.

A person has not been executed in Georgia since Jan. 29, 2020, according to records from the Georgia Department of Corrections. Executions in Georgia are currently carried out at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

What We Know

Pye was convicted of murder in the November 1993 killing of Yarbrough. He was involved in a "sporadic romantic relationship" with Yarbrough, who had moved in with another man when she was killed.

Pye and two of his friends were accused of planning to rob the man after hearing the man had recently collected money from a lawsuit settlement.

"Pye was also angry because (the man) had signed the birth certificate of a child whom Pye claimed as his own," Carr's office said in a news release.

Authorities said the trio drove to Griffin, where Pye bought a "distinctive" 0.22 pistol in what Carr called a street transaction. Pye was later seen at a party with the pistol.

Once the party ended around midnight, Carr said Pye and his two friends drove to the man's house after a witness heard Pye say, "It’s time, let’s do it."

Pye bought ski masks for him and his friends to wear, while Pye and one of the friends wore gloves, Carr said.

They neared the man's house on foot and noticed Yarbrough and her baby were home, Carr said.

"Pye tried to open a window, and Ms. Yarbrough saw him and screamed. Pye ran around to the front door, kicked it in and held Ms. Yarbrough at gunpoint," Carr's office said in the release.

After they saw there was no money in the house, Carr accused the men of taking a Yarbrough's ring and necklace before kidnapping her and leaving her baby in the home.

Pye then used an alias to rent a room at a nearby motel, where the three men "took turns raping Ms. Yarbrough at gunpoint," Carr said. He added Pye had been upset with Yarbrough for allowing the man with whom she was living to sign Pye's baby's birth certificate.

Carr said Pye and his friends removed their fingerprints from the room before they all left with Yarbrough in a car.

"Pye whispered in (his friend's) ear, and (his friend) turned off onto a dirt road. Pye then ordered Ms. Yarbrough out of the car, made her lie face down and shot her three times, killing her," Carr's office said in the release.

While driving from the scene, Pye was accused of tossing the gloves, masks and pistol from the car - the police later recovered these items and found Yarbrough's body a few hours after she was killed.

"A hair found on one of the masks was consistent with the victim’s hair, and a ballistics expert determined that there was a 90 percent probability that a bullet found in the victim’s body had been fired by the .22," Carr's office said in the release.

Evidence also included a DNA match to Pye from semen found in Yarbrough's body, Carr said.

Pye was accused of telling police he had not seen Yarbrough in at least two weeks though one of his friends confessed before later testifying on the state's behalf, Carr said.

Convictions and Appeals

A Spalding County grand jury indicted Pye on Feb. 7, 1994 on suspicion of malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, armed robbery, burglary, rape and aggravated sodomy, Carr said.

He first went to trial on May 28, 1996 and was convicted on June 6, 1996 of all counts in the indictment, excluding felony murder and aggravated sodomy, Carr said.

The next day, the jury recommended a death sentence for the malice murder conviction after "finding as four separate statutory aggravating circumstances that Pye had committed the murder while engaged in the commission of the offenses of kidnapping with bodily injury, rape, armed robbery and burglary," Carr's office said in the release.

The court ordered the death sentence for the malice murder charge, and sentenced Pye to three additional life sentences plus 20 years to be served consecutively on the remaining charges, Carr said.

Pye's motion for a new trial on July 3, 1996 was denied on Aug. 22, 1997, Carr said. Pye later appealed his convictions and sentences in the Georgia Supreme Court; however, on Sept. 21, 1998, the high court affirmed them.

He then attempted a second appeal, which was denied on April 15, 2013, Carr said.

"Pye filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on July 24, 2013. On Jan. 22, 2018, the district court denied Pye’s federal habeas relief. A panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted relief and vacated Pye’s death sentence on April 27, 2021. The Eleventh Circuit granted the Warden’s request for full court review on Sep. 1, 2021. After vacating the panel opinion, the 11th Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of habeas relief on Oct. 4, 2022. ... The United States Supreme Court denied Pye’s request to appeal on Oct. 30, 2023," Carr's office said in the release.