The year 2016 for many on death row is just another year waiting for an injection of poison. This year may be the final year of waiting for Georgia death row inmate Brandon Astor Jones, 72. Astor was sentenced to death in 1979 for the murder of a convenience store owner in Cobb County. At the age of 72, he is Georgia’s oldest living inmate on death row and is now scheduled to die by lethal injection. Yesterday, his final plea for clemency was denied by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles and his execution date has been scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016.
In 1984, fellow prisoner and accomplice in the crime Van Solomon met his death in Georgia’s electric chair. That same year, a Georgia court found that Jones had not received a fair trial and had bad legal representation; subsequently, his death sentence was overturned. Lawyers for Jones contend that his death sentence was excessive and that the jury had consulted a bible to help decide whether to convict him. However, a judge during the retrial felt that Jones showed no remorse for his crime and reinstituted the sentence of death for the father of four.
Jones is accused of killing Roger Tackett, a store owner and father of a then 7-year-old daughter. He stayed late in the store that night to complete paperwork so he could attend mass with his daughter the next morning. Jones and his co-defendant robbed the store and killed Tackett during a late night robbery.
Jones’ lawyers were attempting to have his death sentence commuted to life in prison; however, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles felt that there was no justifiable reason not to go forward with his execution.
