Stacey Humphreys Execution Set for Sept. 16 in Georgia Over 2003 Powder Springs Killings

Georgia seeks first execution of the year in double-murder case

POWDER SPRINGS, Georgia — Georgia prison officials have scheduled the execution of Stacey Humphreys for Sept. 16 after his conviction in the 2003 killings of two real estate agents at a model-home sales office in Powder Springs, a Cobb County suburb northwest of Atlanta.

Humphreys, 53, is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 7 p.m. at the state prison near Jackson, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections. If carried out, it would be Georgia’s first execution this year and the state’s first since March 2024.

A legal challenge related to the makeup of the clemency board remains pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. Humphreys’ attorneys have also urged the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to delay the execution until a replacement member is appointed to consider his request for clemency.

Real estate agents killed during robbery

Humphreys was convicted of malice murder in the deaths of Cyndi Williams, 33, and Lori Brown, 21, on Nov. 3, 2003. Prosecutors said he entered the sales office at a model home in a new Powder Springs subdivision around midday, forced the two women to remove their clothing and surrender their bank PIN numbers, then shot them to death.

Court filings say Humphreys took the women’s driver’s licenses, credit cards and bank cards, later withdrawing more than $3,000 from their accounts. After his arrest, he told police that he had taken out high-interest payday loans and needed money for a truck payment.

At the time of the killings, Humphreys was on parole for a 1993 felony theft conviction. He had been released from prison about 13 months earlier.

Investigators were led to Humphreys after witnesses reported seeing a man matching his description at the sales office and a vehicle matching his black Dodge Durango in the parking lot. When officers tried to question him days later at his Dunwoody home, Humphreys fled. He was ultimately arrested in Wisconsin following a high-speed chase, according to court documents.

Humphreys told investigators that he could not remember his actions at the time of the shootings. But when asked why he had fled, court filings quote him as saying: “I know I did it. I know it just as well as I know my own name.”

Authorities recovered a Ruger handgun from the console of a rented Jeep used in his flight. The weapon matched the 9 mm bullets used in the killings, court records say. Blood on the gun matched Williams’ DNA, while blood found in Humphreys’ truck matched Brown’s DNA.

Clemency dispute delayed earlier execution date

Humphreys had previously been scheduled for execution in December, but Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney paused the process after defense lawyers challenged the involvement of two parole board members in the clemency review.

Defense attorneys argued that board member Kimberly McCoy had a conflict because she worked as a victim advocate in the Cobb County district attorney’s office during Humphreys’ trial and was assigned to assist the victims in the case. They also challenged Wayne Bennett’s participation because he was sheriff of Glynn County, where the trial was moved because of pretrial publicity.

McBurney ruled in March that McCoy had a material conflict of interest and must recuse herself. He found Bennett did not have a conflict, citing Bennett’s limited recollection of the proceedings. The judge declined to require the governor to appoint a substitute member, saying that decision rests with the governor and the State Board of Pardons and Paroles.

The Georgia Supreme Court declined to take up Humphreys’ appeal. His petition to the U.S. Supreme Court remains pending, and his attorneys say the parole board should not proceed with clemency deliberations or the execution without a full five-member panel. The execution remains scheduled for Sept. 16 unless a court or the parole board intervenes.