ATLANTA, GA — A judge has issued an order to temporarily stay the execution of a man convicted of shooting and killing two real estate agents in Cobb County.
The execution of Stacey Humphreys was set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.
The judge's order came around 10 p.m. Tuesday, hours after the state parole board denied Humphreys' clemency. The parole board held a meeting Tuesday morning before making its decision.
The judge halted Humphreys' execution after his lawyers filed a petition seeking a resentencing under a new state law that allows victims of abuse to have their sentences reconsidered and reduced, if they can tie their crimes to abuse they suffered.
The state is appealing that ruling, which could keep the execution on track for Wednesday evening. If an appeals court rules before the scheduled execution time that Humphreys is not entitled to a hearing on his petition for a reduced sentence, the judge said he will consider lifting the stay so the execution can proceed.
Humphreys was convicted of killing real estate agents Cindy Williams and Lori Brown in November 2003.
The women were forced to undress, give Humphreys the PINs to their ATM cards and were shot to death around 12:45 p.m., Nov. 3, 2003 in a model home in Cobb County, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in the past.
Two days after the deadly shootings, Humphreys deposited $1,000 into his account; but at the time of his arrest, he had about $800 in cash on him.
He told police that he did not remember his past actions; but Carr said when asked why he fled, Humphreys told officers, "I know I did it. I know it just as well as I know my own name."
Witnesses told police they saw a man fitting Humphreys' description at the sales office and a vehicle in the parking lot that matched his black Dodge Durango.
Police zeroed in on Humphreys and tried to question him at his Dunwoody home days later. He fled and was arrested in Wisconsin after leading police on a high-speed chase.
Humphreys weighs about 370 pounds, and his lawyers say he has several health issues that make him feel like he's suffocating and choking when lying on his back.
To keep him from suffering "an excruciating death," his lawyers sought modifications to the lethal injection process, and prison authorities agreed to elevate the gurney as much as possible and place blankets behind him to further elevate his upper body if his breathing becomes restricted.
In addition to the petition for a reduced sentence, Humphreys' lawyers have argued that he should be resentenced because his death sentence was tainted by a biased juror who lied during jury selection and bullied other jurors into voting for a death sentence.
Courts have repeatedly rejected those arguments for procedural reasons, though U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by the other two liberal justices, argued last year that the issue should be further explored rather than leaving it "caught in a web of procedural barriers."
Additionally, Humphreys' lawyers have argued that it was not fair that his clemency application was heard by only four members of the five-person State Board of Pardons and Paroles.
A judge had ordered one member of the board to recuse herself, agreeing with Humphreys' legal team that there was a conflict of interest because she previously worked as a victim advocate with the Cobb County District Attorney's Office and had worked with the victims in his case.
Humphreys was set to be the 55th inmate put to death by lethal injection in Georgia.
The last time a person was executed in Georgia was in March 2024, state records show.
Since the reinstatement of Georgia's death penalty in 1976, the DOC said 76 men and one woman have been executed. More than 30 men and one woman are currently on death row in Georgia.
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The Associated Press contributed reporting and writing.
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