ATLANTA — A clemency meeting is scheduled for the day before a man is set to be executed in Georgia for killing his former girlfriend three decades ago.
Willie James Pye was convicted of murder and other crimes in the November 1993 killing of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough.
The meeting -- which is anticipated to be closed-door -- will be held on March 19 at 9 a.m. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles said it will hear testimony for or against clemency. This meeting is a crucial one that could commute Pye's death sentence to a life sentence, issue a stay or deny clemency.
The execution is currently set for 7 p.m. on March 20 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. The Associated Press reported the 59-year-old would be the first person executed in the state since early 2020. They were paused during the pandemic for a certain group of people on Georgia's death row by an agreement between their attorneys and the state.
Yarbrough was found dead Nov. 17, 1993, after being shot multiple times. The two dated off and on, but she was living with another man before her death, the AP reported from court filings. Prosecutors accused Pye and two others of going to her home and planning to rob that man. However, they found Yarbrough alone with her child after forcing their way inside. They were accused of taking a few items, taking her with them, and leaving the baby behind.
She was raped at a motel and then taken to a dirt road where she was ordered to lie face down on the ground. That's where prosecutors said she was shot three times, the AP reported.
Pye was given the death penalty following a 1996 trial where a jury found him guilty of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, armed robbery, burglary, and rape.
Material from the Associated Press was used for this report.