The Latest: Oldest death row inmate in Georgia executed

Oldest death row inmate in Georgia, age 72, is executed

ATLANTA (AP) — The Latest on the execution of Georgia's oldest death row inmate (all times local): 1 a.m. Georgia has executed a 72-year-old man, its oldest death row inmate, for the killing of a convenience store manager during a robbery decades ago. The state Department of Corrections says Brandon Astor Jones was pronounced dead at 12:46 a.m. Wednesday after a lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson. He was convicted in the shooting death of suburban Atlanta store manager Roger Tackett. A federal judge granted Jones a new sentencing hearing in 1989 because jurors were improperly allowed to bring a Bible into their deliberation room. He was resentenced to death in 1997. Another man was also convicted and received a death sentence in the case: Van Roosevelt Solomon was executed in 1985. Evidence at trial indicated a nearby police officer heard four shots in the store, drew his weapon and found Jones and Solomon inside. ___ 11:15 p.m. The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a stay of execution request for Georgia's oldest death row inmate. Seventy-two-year-old Brandon Astor Jones was originally set to receive a lethal injection at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the state prison in Jackson. He was convicted in the 1979 shooting death of a suburban Atlanta convenience store manager. Defense lawyers, in filings late Tuesday, had asked the justices to block Jones' execution for either of two reasons: a challenge to Georgia's lethal injection secrecy law and because he says his death sentence is disproportionate to his crime. ___ 8:20 p.m. Lawyers for Brandon Astor Jones have made last-minute appeals before the U.S. Supreme Court asking to halt Jones' scheduled Tuesday evening execution for the 1979 killing of a store manager. In defense filings to the court, the lawyers asked the justices to block Jones' execution for either of two reasons: he is challenging Georgia's lethal injection secrecy law and also because he says his death sentence is disproportionate to his crime. There was no immediate response from the court in Washington more than an hour after Jones' scheduled 7 p.m. execution time had passed. At 72, Jones is the oldest inmate on Georgia's death row. ____ 4 p.m. Lawyers for a Georgia inmate facing scheduled execution want the state Supreme Court to reconsider its rejection of his appeal. Seventy-two-year-old Brandon Astor Jones is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at 7 p.m. Tuesday. He was convicted in the 1979 shooting death of a convenience store manager. Georgia's Supreme Court ruled 5-2 Tuesday to dismiss Jones' claim that his execution would be unconstitutionally "cruel and unusual and "an arbitrary and disproportionately severe sentence." The high court also denied Jones' request for a stay of execution. But three of the votes to deny the request were made by Court of Appeals judges sitting in place of three absent Supreme Court justices. Jones' lawyers say the Supreme Court has unique jurisdiction in death penalty cases. They are asking for reconsideration by all seven Supreme Court justices. ____ 1:15 p.m. A federal appeals court has rejected a death row inmate's challenge to Georgia's law that shields the identity of the producer of its execution drug. Inmate Brandon Astor Jones's scheduled to die Tuesday. His lawyers had asked the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to consider his challenge. They cited split opinions among the judges who sat on three-judge panels of the court that heard similar challenges. The 11th Circuit voted 6-5 Tuesday to deny full-court consideration. The majority opinion says Georgia's secrecy law does not violate Jones' due process right. Dissenting opinions say the law prevents Jones from having the information he needs to show the state's lethal injection protocol risks being cruel and unusual punishment and, therefore, violates his due process right. ___ 12:40 p.m. The Georgia Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from the state's oldest death row inmate, who's set to be executed Tuesday evening. Seventy-two-year-old Brandon Astor Jones is scheduled to be put to death by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at 7 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson. He was convicted in the 1979 shooting death of a convenience store manager. The Supreme Court ruled 5-2 to dismiss Jones' claim that his execution would be unconstitutionally "cruel and unusual and "an arbitrary and disproportionately severe sentence." The high court also denied Jones' request for a stay of execution. Justices Robert Benham and Carol Hunstein dissented. Another man convicted in the killing, Van Roosevelt Solomon, was executed in the state's electric chair in 1985. ___ 3 a.m. Corrections officials in Georgia are preparing to execute the state's oldest death row inmate. Brandon Astor Jones, who's 72, is scheduled to be put to death by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the state prison in Jackson. He was convicted in the 1979 shooting death of Cobb County convenience store manager Roger Tackett. A federal judge in 1989 granted Jones a new sentencing hearing because jurors had improperly been allowed to bring a Bible into the deliberation room. He was resentenced to death in 1997. Another man convicted in the killing, Van Roosevelt Solomon, was executed in the state's electric chair in 1985. Jones is the first death row inmate set for execution this year in Georgia. The state executed five inmates last year.