Georgia Executes First Death-Row Inmate of 2017

JACKSON, GA — J.W. "Boy" Ledford became Georgia's first inmate put to death in 2017 in the early morning hours Tuesday.

Ledford, 45, who was convicted of the 1992 stabbing death of a doctor in north Georgia, received a lethal injection at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson and was pronounced dead at 1:17 a.m.

Ledford did not accept a final prayer and recorded a final statement, according to state prison officials.

According to witnesses in the execution chamber, a grinning Ledford's final words were "You can kiss my white trash ass."

He also appeared to quote the prison movie "Cool Hand Luke" — "What we have here is a failure to communicate" — before prison officials turned off his microphone.

Ledford's execution had been scheduled for 7 p.m. But a series of last-minute legal maneuvering, including appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, pushed it back more than six hours.

After the nation's highest court denied his appeal, Ledford became the 70th Georgia inmate put to death since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Ledford arrived at his execution day after an unusual legal appeal. His attorneys had petitioned the courts to let him be killed by firing squad, arguing that the lethal drug cocktail used in Georgia for executions is inhumane.

Lawyers argued that because Ledford had been taking a drug to treat nerve pain for years, the pentobarbital intended to act as a sedative may not work as intended. State experts testified that the amount of the drug used is more than sufficient to cause death without pain and a federal appeals court denied Ledford a stay of execution.

Witnesses Wednesday said Ledford did not appear to physically suffer during the execution.

According to court records, Ledford, who was then 20, had been drinking and using drugs when he murdered his neighbor, 73-year-old Dr. Harry Johnson in Murray County.

Ledford stabbed Johnson to death shortly after the elder man had given him a ride in his pickup truck. Ledford also tied up Johnson's wife, Antoinette, and stole firearms from the family's home, saying he needed money for drugs.

He sold a rifle and shotgun at two different pawn shops and was arrested shortly thereafter.

On Monday, the state Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Ledford's request for clemency in the case. The United States Supreme Court denied Ledford’s request to appeal last month.

Ledford's execution was the first in Georgia since William Sallie was executed in December.

There have now been 69 men and one woman executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty. Ledford was the 47th inmate put to death by lethal injection.

For his last meal, Ledford didn't skimp. He requested Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon with Pepper Jack cheese, large french fries, 10 chicken tenders with sauce, a fried pork chop, a "bloomin' onion," pecan pie with vanilla ice cream, sherbet and Sprite.

Photo courtesy Georgia Department of Corrections