A Georgia inmate convicted of carjacking a man from a Walmart parking lot and murdering him has been scheduled to die, officials confirmed Monday.
Robert Earl Butts Jr. has been scheduled for execution on May 3 at 7 p.m. a statement from the office of Attorney General Chris Carr said. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles scheduled a meeting to consider clemency at 9 a.m. on May 2. The purpose of the meeting is to receive information for or against clemency for Butts.
It's been 22 years since Butts killed Donovan Corey Parks.
According to court documents provided by Carr's office, Parks was shot while laying on the ground outside his car on March 28, 1996. The victim had originally gone to a Milledgeville, Georgia Walmart to pick up items for his pets when Butts and another man, Marion Wilson Jr., got in line behind him.
Investigators said Butts was wearing a coat under which he likely had his weapon - a shotgun. Butts later confessed to others what followed that night.
According to court records, Butts and Wilson both followed their victim to his car and asked for a ride. After making room, Parks agreed to drive them. From there, Butts sat in the front of the car and Wilson sat in the back.
A short distance away, Parks was ordered out of the car and dragged to the ground by his tie. Butts then pulled out his shotgun and fired into the back of the driver's head killing him.
The two suspects then took the victim's car to a gas station in Gray, Georgia to refuel. They were on their way to exchange the car at a "chop shop" for money but were unsuccessful.
Instead, they bought cans of gasoline, drove to Macon, Georgia and set the car ablaze. From there they called an uncle of Butts to get them back to the Walmart where they first initiated their crime so that they could pick up their vehicle.
Witness testimony, license plate numbers and a shotgun under Butts's bed were enough to put him in jail. From there, he allegedly confessed to other people in the jail that he was the triggerman in the murder.
The window for the execution ends on May 10. Authorities said Butts had concluded his direct appeal proceedings and his state and federal habeas corpus proceedings.
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