UPDATE: Parole board denies clemency for death row inmate in Murray County murder

May 15, 2017

Collins Parker,

ATLANTA, Ga. (WDEF) – The State Board of Pardons and Paroles has denied clemency in the case of condemned inmate J.W. Ledford, Jr.

The decision by the five member Parole Board came after an exhaustive review of the inmate’s parole case file and following a meeting today to receive information for or against clemency.

The Georgia Department of Corrections has scheduled Ledford’s execution for tomorrow, May 16, 2017, at 7 p.m. at the Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

Ledford was sentenced to death for the January 1992 murder of 73-year old Harry Buchanan Johnston, Jr., in Murray County. Ledford was convicted of malice murder, as well as two counts of armed robbery, one count of burglary and one count of kidnapping.

The United States Supreme Court denied Ledford’s request to appeal on April 3, 2017.

The Murray County Superior Court issued the order for the execution of Ledford.

The Parole Board maintains a comprehensive file on each death row inmate. The file contains the history of the inmate’s life, including the inmate’s criminal history and the circumstances of the crime that was committed resulting in the death sentence.

Prior to today’s meeting the Board Members had thoroughly reviewed that information.

ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia’s parole board is scheduled to hear arguments for or against clemency for a death row inmate.

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles is holding a clemency hearing Monday for J.W. Ledford Jr. He is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday.

Ledford, who’s 45, was convicted of murder in the January 1992 stabbing death of his neighbor, 73-year-old Dr. Harry Johnston, near his home in Murray County, in northwest Georgia.

The parole board is the only authority in Georgia with power to commute a death sentence.

Ledford would be the first inmate executed this year in Georgia. The state executed nine inmates last year.

Ledford’s lawyers are asking the parole board to spare his life, citing a rough childhood, substance abuse from an early age and intellectual disability.