FILE – In this undated file photo released by the Georgia Department of Corrections, J.W. Ledford Jr., poses for a photo. Lawyers for Ledford, a Georgia death row inmate argue the state’s lethal injection drug will cause him unconstitutional suffering and that execution by firing squad is the only appropriate alternative. J.W. Ledford Jr. is set to be put to death Tuesday, May 16, 2017, by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital. (Georgia Department of Corrections via AP) ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia is preparing to carry out its first execution this year: that of a man convicted of killing a 73-year-old neighbor 25 years ago.
J.W. Ledford Jr., 45, is scheduled to die Tuesday at the state prison in Jackson by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital. He was convicted of murder in the January 1992 stabbing death of Dr. Harry Johnston in Murray County, northwest Georgia.
The State Board of Pardons and Paroles, which is the only authority in Georgia with the power to commute a death sentence, has declined to spare Ledford’s life. Legal challenges filed by his attorneys were still pending.
Ledford told police he had gone to Johnston’s home on Jan. 31, 1992, to ask for a ride to the grocery store. After the older man accused him of stealing and smacked him, Ledford pulled out a knife and stabbed Johnston to death, according to court filings. The pathologist who did the autopsy said Johnston suffered “one continuous or two slices to the neck” and bled to death.
After dragging Johnston’s body to another part of Johnston’s property and covering it up, Ledford went to Johnston’s house with a knife and demanded money from Johnston’s wife, according to court filings. He took money and four guns from the home, tied up Johnston’s wife and left in Johnston’s truck. He was arrested later that day.