James Ward sentenced to life in prison for killing pregnant woman in 1989

April 30, 2018 at 1:29 p.m. | Updated April 30, 2018 at 1:33 p.m.

by Staff Report

Linda Tucker, the mother of Nikia Gilbreath, poses at her home in Rocky Face, Ga., holding a piece of pottery made by her daughter. Gilbreath was 23 years old when Jamie Ray Ward kidnapped and murdered her, and he was convicted in 1991.
Linda Tucker, the mother of Nikia Gilbreath, poses at her home in Rocky Face, Ga., holding a piece of pottery made by her daughter. Gilbreath was 23 years old when Jamie Ray Ward kidnapped and murdered her, and he was convicted in 1991.
photo Nikia Kay Gilbreath

James Ray Ward was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole today.

Nearly 30 years ago, Ward kidnapped a pregnant woman, broke her ribs, stuffed wads of paper down her throat, suffocated her and dumped her body in the woods.

A jury convicted him of murder and feticide in 1991.

The jury gave Ward the death penalty, but a federal court of appeals overturned that punishment in 2010 and sent the case back to Walker County for a new sentencing hearing.

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