ATLANTA — The State Board of Pardons and Paroles is set to meet Wednesday at 9 a.m. to consider clemency for convicted murderer Scotty Garnell Morrow, just a day ahead of Morrow's scheduled execution by lethal injection.
He's asking for his life to be spared.
Morrow was convicted in the 1994 murders of Barbara Ann Young, his ex-girlfriend and mother of five, and her friend Tonya Rochelle Woods.
The shooting happened in front of some of Young's children.
Morrow was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1999, and for years he tried to appeal the case. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his request in February 2019.
At Wednesday's meeting, Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles has the option to commute Morrow's sentence, delay the execution for 90 days or deny clemency.
The meeting will likely be closed with no pubic comments, but the board has been asked to consider parts of letters and statements from a pastor, chaplain, mental health professional, and corrections staff, along with jurors in his case, and his son and former wife.
They argue Morrow immediately took responsibility for his crimes, offering to plead guilty. They also say he is tormented by deep remorse and the pain and loss he caused.
The application says has an exemplary prison record, and has sought redemption through the practice of his faith. It further adds his crimes were out of character, claiming his violence was emotionally charged, as Young had broken up with him and he couldn't accept it. The application also claims jurors didn't have evidence of his childhood physical and sexual abuse, that some jurors later said might have changed their decisions.
Morrow is asking the board to delay the execution for 90 days so they can have a hearing with witnesses and a full review, then for his death sentence to be commuted.
As of right now, Morrow's execution is set for Thursday at a Georgia prison in Jackson at 7 p.m.
The state board says only 11 requests for clemency have ever been granted, with the first in 1977 and the most recent in July of 2014.
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