Brandon Astor Jones: Georgia Executes Its Oldest Death Row Inmate

Georgia has executed its oldest death row inmate, 72-year-old Brandon Astor Jones.

The man was sentenced to the death penalty 36 years ago, after being convicted of killing a shop manager during a robbery.

Brandon Astor Jones’ execution was delayed by several hours after his lawyers filed a last-minute appeal with the Supreme Court.

Georgia has executed about 60 people since 1976, and has dozens of people on death row.

Photo Reuters

Brandon Astor Jones was given a lethal injection in the early hours of February 3 at a prison in Jackson, after accepting a final prayer.

He and another man, Van Roosevelt Solomon, were both convicted of the killing of store manager Roger Tackett during a robbery in 1979. Van Roosevelt Solomon was executed in 1985.

Brandon Astor Jones’ supporters argued that he had denied shooting Roger Tackett, and that the court had not considered evidence of mental illness and abuse as a child.

In a statement issued before his execution, the Death Penalty Information Center said Brandon Astor Jones was “two weeks short of his 73rd birthday” and that his case “raises questions of proportionality and discriminatory application of the death penalty”.

A federal judge had overturned Brandon Jones’ death sentence in 1989, saying that the jurors had improperly brought a Bible into the deliberation room, which could have influenced their decision.

Brandon Astor Jones was re-sentenced to death in 1997.