Georgia Set to Execute Oldest Inmate on Death Row

(Image: Georgia Department of Corrections)

Georgia is set to execute the oldest inmate on death row on Tuesday, a man sentenced to death back in 1979 for killing a Cobb County convenience store manager.

Brandon Jones, 72, is also the oldest man in the history of Georgia’s death row, according to WSB-TV.

This past Friday, an appellate court in Butts County rejected another appeal from Jones to stop his execution, according to the AJC.

Butts County is where Georgia’s execution chamber is located.

Jones and Van Roosevelt Solomon were convicted in the murder of Roger Tackett, a ex-school teacher who was working as a convenience store manager. Police say Tackett had gone back to the gas station to close up and catch up on some paperwork so he could spend Father’s Day with his then-8-year-old daughter.

Solomon was executed in 1985, but Jones has spent the last 38 years waiting to be executed. His attorneys say the crime of armed robbery no longer constitutes a death penalty sentence under today’s legal standards.

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles has scheduled another hearing in the case for Monday.