Intellectually Disabled and Traumatic Childhood: The Case of Willie Pye Seeking Clemency before Georgia’s First Execution in Over Four Years
Georgia is preparing to carry out its first execution since January 2020 on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. The condemned inmate, Willie Pye, and his legal team argue that he should be spared from execution due to intellectual disability and a troubled upbringing. These mitigating factors were never presented to the jury during his trial, as Pye’s legal defense was deemed ineffective and overworked at the time.
Pye, currently 59 years old, was convicted of multiple charges including malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, armed robbery, burglary, and rape for the 1993 killing of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough. His attorneys have filed a petition for clemency with Georgia’s Pardons and Parole Board, requesting a stay of execution for 90 days to review Pye’s case in depth and potentially commute his sentence to life in prison.
The parole board, however, denied the clemency request following a thorough evaluation of all available facts and circumstances surrounding the case. Pye still has pending litigation that could potentially halt his execution at the last minute, which is a common practice among death row inmates seeking reprieve from capital punishment.
The Last Execution in Georgia: A Delayed Resumption
Executions in Georgia were halted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as per the American Bar Association’s statement. If Pye’s execution proceeds as planned on Wednesday evening, it will mark Georgia’s first use of lethal injection since the pandemic-related hiatus.
Pye’s ineffective assistance of counsel during his trial has been a major point of contention in his petition for clemency. According to the petition, Pye’s trial attorney, who was responsible for all indigent defense services through a contract for which he was paid a lump sum, had to manage hundreds of felony cases at the same time. In addition to his public defense responsibilities, this attorney was also handling private practice cases and representing defendants in four other capital cases.
The result was an abandonment of Pye’s defense, as his trial attorney failed to present crucial evidence regarding Pye’s intellectual disability and challenging childhood circumstances to the jury. Pye’s clemency petition asserts that if his attorney had provided adequate representation, jurors would have learned about these significant factors that could have potentially spared Pye from the death penalty.
Background and Motive of the Crime: Intellectual Disability and Childhood Trauma
Pye, along with two accomplices, intended to rob a man with whom Yarbrough was living due to Pye’s anger over that man having signed the birth certificate of a child Pye claimed as his own. Before committing the crime, Pye bought a .22 pistol and wore ski masks with his accomplices to conceal their identities.
Upon arriving at the man’s home, where Yarbrough was alone with her infant child, Pye and his accomplices forced their way in and held Yarbrough at gunpoint. They took a ring and necklace from Yarbrough before kidnapping her and taking her to a motel, where they raped her. Afterward, they brought Yarbrough down a dirt road and ordered her out of the car, ultimately executing her by shooting her three times. One accomplice later confessed and testified for the state, while DNA analysis of semen taken from Yarbrough’s body matched Pye.
Pye’s jury recommended a death sentence, which was ultimately imposed by the court in addition to three life sentences plus 20 years. However, the conviction and sentence have been upheld on appeal in both state and federal courts. In 2021, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Pye’s sentence, ruling that his trial attorney’s work during the sentencing phase was deficient and prejudicial. This ruling was later overturned following a hearing before the entirety of the 11th Circuit.
Accused Accomplices Serving Life Sentences
Pye’s accomplices, who are both currently serving life sentences for their roles in Yarbrough’s murder, have been identified in Georgia correctional records.
Conclusion: Intellectual Disability and Traumatic Childhood as Mitigating Factors
Pye’s attorneys argue that he should be spared from execution due to intellectual disability and a challenging childhood, factors that were never presented to the jury during his trial. Three jurors have since expressed their opposition to Pye’s execution based on these newly-emerged facts, and Pye still has pending litigation that could potentially halt his execution. If Pye’s execution proceeds as planned on Wednesday, it will mark Georgia’s first use of lethal injection since the Covid-19 pandemic-related hiatus.
