US to execute ex-girlfriend murderer Willie Pye despite eleventh-hour mental disability plea

A US man is just hours away from being executed for kidnapping, raping, and murdering his former girlfriend despite his lawyers arguing a case of mental disability.

The US state of Georgia is just hours away from its first execution in over four years.

Willie Pye, a 59-year-old man convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering his former girlfriend, Alice Yarbrough, is slated to face lethal injection later this morning in Jackson, Georgia (7pm local time).

Despite a last-minute plea for clemency, Pye’s fate was sealed as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles declined his request on Tuesday, paving the way for the execution.

Pye’s legal team had argued for mercy, citing his intellectual disability with an IQ of 68 and a harrowing upbringing marked by poverty, neglect, and violence within his family.

They also pointed out the inadequacy of his legal representation during the trial and emphasised the incompetence of his now-deceased public defender, whom they described as “racist and overworked”.

Willie Pye, 59, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 for the 1993 kidnapping, rape and murder of his former girlfriend, Alice Yarbrough. Picture: Georgia Department of Corrections / AFP

This grim saga began in 1993 when Pye was initially sentenced to death for the brutal murder of Yarbrough.

However, in a legal twist in 2021, an appeals court overturned his sentence due to ineffective counsel.

Despite this temporary reprieve, the death sentence was eventually reinstated, leading to the impending execution.

The looming execution of Pye will mark the third capital punishment carried out in the United States this year.

Kenneth Smith met his fate in Alabama through nitrogen gas in January, followed by Ivan Cantu in Texas via lethal injection in February.

The debate surrounding capital punishment continues, with 23 states having abolished it and six others imposing a moratorium.

In 2023, 24 executions were recorded in the US, all administered through lethal injection.

-With AFP