Donnie Cleveland Lance
Donnie Cleveland Lance, 66, was executed by lethal injection at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson on January 29, 2020, according to the state. His children, Jessie Lance and Stephanie Lance Cape, said he had been a positive force in their lives since he entered prison, offering counsel, and his granddaughter called him Papa Don. He maintained his innocence, and his lawyers argued that no physical evidence linked him to the case and sought DNA testing, but the courts declined. The U.S. Supreme Court and the Georgia Supreme Court rejected his final appeals, and the state parole board had declined clemency. His family had asked the state to spare his life and to test the DNA evidence.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. Lance maintained his innocence and his lawyers and family argued that DNA testing could have ruled him out and that trial counsel did not present evidence of his background.
Reported by: Georgia Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); Georgia attorney general's office; State of Georgia.