Willie James Pye
Willie James Pye, 59, was a loving son, brother and uncle, according to his attorney, Nathan Potek. He was executed by lethal injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson on March 20, 2024, the state's first execution since January 2020. His lawyers said he has an intellectual disability, grew up in severe poverty with childhood trauma and abuse, and that his jury never heard that evidence, and the State Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency while the U.S. Supreme Court declined to halt the execution. The Department of Corrections said he accepted a final prayer and made no final statement, but the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported a calm statement he recorded hours before his death, in which he thanked his family, prison guards and the warden and said he felt at peace.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. Pye's lawyers argued he has an intellectual disability and that his defense counsel failed him, and they sought clemency, which the State Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected.
Reported by: Georgia Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); his attorneys; the U.S. Supreme Court (court); the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (reporters).
News reports (8)
- Georgia puts Willie Pye to death in its first execution since before the pandemic
- Georgia executes death row inmate Willie Pye for the 1993 murder of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough
- Georgia executes Willie James Pye for 1993 Spalding County murder - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- What it was like to witness the execution of Willie James Pye - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- ‘I’m at peace.’ Willie James Pye thanked family, prison staff before execution - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Executions in Georgia, 1924-2024
- The Death Penalty in 2024: Executions
- Georgia executions: A look at 77 people put to death since 1983