Willie James Pye faces execution by lethal injection in Georgia, marking the state’s return to capital punishment after a four-year hiatus, despite concerns over his intellectual disabilities and the justice system’s fairness.
Willie James Pye, a death row inmate in Georgia, is set to be executed on Wednesday by lethal injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, marking the state’s first execution in over four years. Convicted of the murder, rape, robbery, and kidnapping of 21-year-old Alicia Lynn Yarbrough in November 1993, Pye’s clemency request was denied by Georgia’s parole board despite arguments from his legal team regarding his intellectual disabilities, remorse, and a troubled upbringing marked by poverty and neglect.
The case, which originated from a dispute over paternity and a botched robbery plan, involved Pye and two accomplices, Chester Adams and Anthony Freeman, leading to Yarbrough’s tragic demise. Although Pye’s defense argued that key pieces of evidence regarding his intellectual disability and inconsistencies in witness testimonies were overlooked at his 1996 trial, the parole board decided to proceed with the execution.
Pye’s final meal request includes two chicken sandwiches, two cheeseburgers, french fries, potato chips, and lemon-lime sodas. The impending execution has reignited discussions on the justice system’s handling of death penalty cases, focusing on issues such as racial bias, the effectiveness of defense, and the ethical considerations surrounding capital punishment.
