Brandon Astor Jones

Brandon Astor Jones (February 13, 1943 – February 3, 2016) was an African American man who was executed by lethal injection by the state of Georgia on February 3, 2016. Jones, age 72, was the oldest person on Georgia's death row at the time he was executed. During his time on death row, he became a published writer of essays and articles, as well as completing two book-length manuscripts of historical fiction and autobiography.

Brandon Astor Jones
Born(1943-02-13)February 13, 1943
Indiana
DiedFebruary 3, 2016(2016-02-03) (aged 72)
Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, Jackson, Georgia
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Criminal chargeMurder (June 1979)
PenaltyDeath penalty (October 17, 1979 & September 23, 1997)
Details
VictimsRoger Tackett
DateJune 17, 1979

Crime and sentence

Jones was first sentenced to death on October 17, 1979 for his involvement in the felony murder of Roger Tackett on June 17 of that year during a robbery of a Tenneco convenience store, of which Tackett was the manager.[1][2][3] Jones was convicted in relation to this murder along with Van Roosevelt Solomon (December 1, 1943 - February 20, 1985), who was executed in 1985 by electrocution at age 41.[1] In 1989, a federal court ordered Jones to be re-sentenced because the jurors who had convicted him had improperly brought a Bible into the deliberation room.[4] He was re-sentenced to death in 1997.[2] In January 2016, Jones' attorneys asked the Butts County Superior Court to stop his execution by challenging the state's injection drug secrecy law, and arguing that the death penalty was too harsh a punishment for his crime. Both arguments were rejected by the court.[1] On February 2, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit voted 6-5 not to hear Jones' challenge of Georgia's drug secrecy law.[5] Jones was executed early on February 3, 2016 by lethal IV injection, ten days before his 73rd birthday. The executioner team struggled for an hour to insert the IV into Jones' veins,[6] spending 24 minutes trying to get it into a vein in his left arm, another eight minutes trying his right arm and then they asked a doctor in attendance to insert it into Jones' groin which took 13 minutes.[7] Jones was pronounced dead at 12:46 AM.[1]

See also

References
  1. Rogers, Katie (4 February 2016). "Georgia's Oldest Death Row Inmate Is Executed". New York Times. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  2. Brumback, Kate (13 January 2016). "Georgia to execute its oldest death row inmate next month". Seattle Times. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  3. Associated Press (2 February 2016). "Brandon Astor Jones, Georgia's oldest Death Row inmate, scheduled for execution". AL.com. Retrieved 18 February 2016.
  4. Cook, Rhonda (28 January 2016). "Brandon Astor Jones says death sentence disproportionate for crime". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  5. Helsel, Phil (3 February 2016). "Georgia Executes Its Oldest Death Row Inmate". NBC News. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
  6. Cook, Rhonda (2016-02-13). "Oldest man on Georgia's death row has been executed". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
  7. McDaniel, Chris (2016-02-16). "Georgia Executioners Struggled To Set IVs In Recent Lethal Injections". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 2016-10-05.
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