A Texas prisoner convicted in the 2005 killings of three people is scheduled to be executed Wednesday, while a separate execution planned in Georgia has been temporarily blocked by a judge.
LeJames Norman, 40, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. CDT at the Texas state penitentiary in Huntsville. If carried out, it would be Texas’ fifth execution of the year.
In Georgia, Stacey Humphreys, 53, had been scheduled for execution at 7 p.m. EDT. A judge issued a temporary stay late Tuesday after Humphreys’ attorneys sought a new sentencing hearing under a recently enacted state law.
Texas Case Stems From Fatal Home Invasion
Norman was sentenced to death for the killings of Samuel Roberts, 24, Tiffani Peacock, 18, and Celso Lopez, 38.
Prosecutors said Norman and co-defendant Ker’Sean Ramey believed the victims’ home in Edna, Texas, contained cocaine and went there intending to steal drugs.
No cocaine was found, but the confrontation ended with all three victims being shot and killed. Court records state that Lopez was shot four times, including three times in the back of the head. Peacock was shot twice in the head, while Roberts suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, neck and head.
Norman was arrested about five months later while attempting to enter the United States from Mexico. He pleaded guilty to capital murder, leaving jurors to determine whether he should receive the death penalty.
Ramey was also convicted and sentenced to death. His execution is scheduled for the following week.
Appeals Have Continued
Norman’s attorneys have continued challenging his death sentence. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recently declined to commute the sentence or recommend a 90-day reprieve.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals also rejected a request to halt the execution. Norman’s lawyers subsequently sought intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court previously declined in 2017 to hear an appeal that questioned the effectiveness of Norman’s trial representation.
Georgia Execution Delayed by Court Order
Humphreys was convicted of malice murder and other offenses for the 2003 deaths of real estate agents Cyndi Williams, 33, and Lori Brown, 21.
The women were working at a model home in Powder Springs, a suburb of Atlanta, when Humphreys entered the sales office, according to evidence presented during his trial.
Prosecutors said he forced the women to provide their bank information before shooting them. Investigators later determined that more than $3,000 had been withdrawn from their accounts.
Humphreys was arrested in Wisconsin following a high-speed police pursuit after investigators identified him as a suspect.
Lawyers Seek New Sentencing Hearing
Humphreys’ attorneys are challenging his death sentence on several grounds.
One argument centers on a Georgia law allowing certain people who experienced abuse to seek reconsideration of their sentences when they can establish a connection between the abuse and their criminal conduct.
His legal team has also argued that a juror who participated in the original trial was biased and improperly influenced other jurors during deliberations. Courts have previously rejected those claims on procedural grounds.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by two other justices, previously indicated that the juror issue warranted further consideration rather than being left unresolved because of procedural restrictions.
Humphreys’ attorneys have separately challenged the composition of the state’s clemency process. One member of Georgia’s five-person Board of Pardons and Paroles was required to recuse herself after a judge found a potential conflict involving her previous work with the Cobb County district attorney’s office and the victims in the case.
The board subsequently denied Humphreys’ request for clemency.
Two States, Different Outcomes
The cases illustrate how execution dates can remain subject to legal challenges until the final stages of the process.
Norman’s execution remained scheduled after state-level appeals and a clemency request were unsuccessful, although his attorneys continued seeking relief from the nation’s highest court.
Humphreys, meanwhile, received a judicial stay that could be lifted if an appeals court rules against his request for a new sentencing hearing before the scheduled execution time.
Texas and Georgia are among several states where death-penalty cases continue to move through lengthy appeals and clemency proceedings. Florida has carried out more executions than any other U.S. state so far this year, accounting for more than half of the 25 executions reported nationwide at the time of the cases.
The scheduled executions and court proceedings remain subject to further judicial decisions.
