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Scotty Garnell Morrow is scheduled to be executed by lethal
injection at 7 p.m. local time (2300 GMT) at Georgia Diagnostic
and Classification Prison in Jackson.
On the morning of Dec. 29, 1994, a couple of weeks after Barbara
Young ended a relationship with Morrow because of his abusive
behavior, he went to her Gainesville home. An argument ensued as
Young's friends Tonya Woods and LaToya Horne and her two
children looked on, according to court documents detailing
testimony during the trial.
During the fight, Morrow pulled out a gun from his waistband and
shot Woods in the abdomen and Horne in the arm. Young fled into
a bedroom where Morrow beat her before he shot and killed her.
He went into the kitchen where he shot and killed Woods, court
papers showed.
Horne fled to a neighbor's house as police responded to the
shooting and the murder weapon was later found hidden in the
backyard of Morrow's house. Morrow confessed to the killings
after his arrest. During the trial, he admitted he shot the
victims because he "wanted [Ms. Woods] to shut up," court
documents said.
On June 26, 1999, a jury found Morrow guilty on several charges
including two counts of felony murder. Three days later, the
jury recommended the death sentence.
Since 2001, several state and federal courts have denied
Morrow's appeals based on various grounds. The United States
Supreme Court denied Morrow’s request to appeal in February.
Morrow would be the fifth inmate to be executed in the United
States and the first to be executed in Georgia in 2019. Georgia
executed two inmates in 2018, according to the Death Penalty
Information Center.
(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Chris
Reese)
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