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Georgia is planning to execute Stacey Ian Humphreys on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. He was convicted of the 2003 murders of Cyndi Williams and Lori Brown. Here is the story from FindLaw: “At approximately 12:40 p.m. on November 3, 2003, Humphreys, a convicted felon who was still on parole, entered a home construction company’s sales office located in a model home for a new subdivision in Cobb County. Cindy Williams and Lori Brown were employed there as real estate agents. Finding Ms. Williams alone in the office, Humphreys used a stolen handgun to force her to undress and to reveal the PIN for her ATM card. After calling Ms. Williams’s bank to learn the amount of her current balance, Humphreys tied her underwear so tightly around her neck that, when her body was discovered, her neck bore a prominent ligature mark and her tongue was protruding from her mouth, which had turned purple.”
“While choking Ms. Williams, Humphreys forced her to get down on her hands and knees and to move into Ms. Brown’s office and behind Ms. Brown’s desk. Humphreys placed his handgun at Ms. Williams back and positioned a bag of balloons between the gun and her body to muffle the sound of gunshots. He then fired a shot into her back that went through her lung and heart, fired a second shot through her head, and left her face-down on her hands and knees under the desk.”
“Ms. Brown entered the office during or shortly after Humphreys’s attack on Ms. Williams, and he attacked her too. Ms. Brown suffered a hemorrhage in her throat that was consistent with her having been choked in a headlock-type grip or having been struck in the throat. Humphreys also forced Ms. Brown to undress and to reveal her PIN, called her bank to obtain her balance, and made her kneel with her head facing the floor. Then, while standing over Ms. Brown, Humphreys fired one gunshot through her head, this time using both a bag of balloons and Ms. Brown’s folded blouse to muffle the sound. He dragged her body to her desk, took both victims’ driver’s licenses and ATM and credit cards, and left the scene at approximately 1:30 p.m. When the builder, whose office was located in the model home’s basement, heard the door chime of the security system indicating that someone had exited the sales office, he went to the sales office to meet with the agents. There he discovered Ms. Brown’s body and called 911. The responding police officer discovered Ms. Williams’s body.”
“After interviewing the builder and canvassing the neighborhood, the police released to the media descriptions of the suspect and a Dodge Durango truck seen at the sales office near the time of the crimes. In response, someone at the job site where Humphreys worked called to advise that Humphreys and his vehicle matched those descriptions and that Humphreys did not report to work on the day of the crimes. The police began to investigate Humphreys and made arrangements through his parole officer to meet with him on the morning of November 7, 2003. Humphreys skipped the meeting, however, and eluded police officers who had him under surveillance.” …
“Cobb County police determined that Humphreys had left his home on foot on the morning of November 7, 2003, they learned that he had rented a vehicle and departed the area. Subsequently, police arranged with the U.S. Marshals Service for the issuance of a nationwide “Attempt to Locate” (ATL) lookout notice for Humphreys and his rental vehicle.”
“Officer Paul Schmitt of the Brookfield, Wisconsin, Police Department testified that he was on patrol when he received the lookout notice at 5:16 a.m. on November 8, 2003. The lookout was for a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee with a Budget rental car company license-applied-for or “paper” tag. It identified Humphreys by name as the driver of the Jeep, gave his date of birth, and described him as a white male, six feet three inches tall, 295 pounds, and bald. The lookout also stated that, according to the U.S. Marshals Service, Humphreys was a suspect in a double homicide in Georgia, was considered to be armed and dangerous, was possibly attempting to flee the country, was being tracked by his cellular telephone signal, and was last known to be near Schmitt’s vicinity traveling on Interstate 94.”
“Schmitt drove to Interstate 94 to observe the passing traffic, which was light because it was an early Saturday morning. At approximately 5:30 a.m., the officer observed a silver Jeep Grand Cherokee with a paper tag pass his vehicle, and he began to follow it from a distance of four to five car lengths. Schmitt notified Waukesha County communications that he was following the suspect vehicle, and other officers were dispatched to assist him. A few minutes later, the officers activated their blue lights and sirens. In response, the Jeep rapidly accelerated, leading to a 35-minute high-speed chase before Humphreys’s vehicle finally crashed and he was apprehended.” … (This story has dashcam footage of the chase. It also has more details on the capture.) …
“It is undisputed that, when the police activated their lights and sirens, Humphreys accelerated and attempted to flee, traveling at up to 110 miles per hour, driving recklessly through residential areas, running stop signs, and swerving off the road. His vehicle came to a stop only after running over multiple sets of “stop sticks” set out by law enforcement and after the police rammed the vehicle in a “pit” maneuver, pushing it into a concrete edifice in a medical center parking lot.” …
“Humphreys was apprehended the following day. Police there recovered from the console of his rental vehicle a Ruger 9-millimeter pistol, which was determined to be the murder weapon. Swabbings from that gun revealed blood containing Ms. Williams’s DNA. A stain on the driver-side floormat of Humphreys’s Durango was determined to be blood containing Ms. Brown’s DNA.”
“After the murders, the victims’ ATM cards were used to withdraw over $3,000 from their accounts. Two days after the murders, Humphreys deposited $1,000 into his account, and he had approximately $800 in cash in his possession when he was arrested. Humphreys claimed in a statement to the police that he did not remember his actions at the time of the crimes. However, when asked why he fled, he said: “I know I did it. I know it just as well as I know my own name.” He also told the police that he had recently taken out some high-interest “payday” loans and that he “got over [his] head with that stinking truck.”
Stacey Humphreys was convicted of the murders, and assorted other crimes. He was sentenced to death. The death sentence turned out to be controversial. “The Supreme Court on Monday refused to review the case of Stacey Humphreys, who was sentenced to death in Georgia after a single juror “bullied” the others into voting for death. In an opinion joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented from the Court’s decision “allowing a death sentence tainted by a single juror’s extraordinary misconduct to stand.” …
“During jury selection for his trial in 2007, the dissent recounted, juror Chancey said a convicted murderer who had escaped from a mental institution attempted to rape and rob her in her home, but she escaped before he got inside the house. She swore under oath she could be a fair juror and would “honestly consider” all three sentencing options—life with parole, life without parole, and death.”
“The jury convicted Mr. Humphreys, and the State sought the death penalty. During deliberations at the penalty phase, Chancey revealed to the other jurors that her attacker actually had assaulted her while she was naked in her bed. Based on that experience, the jury foreperson later reported, she “had her mind made up” from “day one” of trial that Mr. Humphreys “deserved to die.”
“On the second day of deliberations, the other 11 jurors voted for life without parole, but “Chancey would not even consider it.” … The judge instructed the jury to keep deliberating, and Chancey “snapped”—she yelled, cursed, and screamed she would “stay here forever if” that’s what it took for Mr. Humphreys “to get death.” She threw the victims’ photos across the table, demanding, “Do you want this to happen to someone you know?” and reminded jurors of the similarities of her own attack. She falsely told them “they had to reach a unanimous decision or [Humphreys] would be paroled,” personally attacked them, and refused to engage in discussions. People in the courtroom heard screaming from the jury room, and jurors were seen crying on several occasions. One juror “took a swing” at Chancey and punched a hole in the wall. Another juror said later that “it was as if an evil force took over” Chancey. The foreperson wrote a note to the judge asking to be removed from the jury because of the “hostile nature of one of the jurors.” But rather than investigate, the trial judge instructed jurors to keep deliberating and rejected the defense’s motion for a mistrial. On the third morning of deliberations, the jury returned a unanimous verdict for death.”
Stacey Ian Humphreys, GDC ID: 0000679146, had been incarcerated twice before. (07/30/1997 – 10/10/2002, 11/05/1993 – 08/01/1996) Mr. Humphreys was born in May 1973, stood 6’ 3”, weighed 305#. Previous crimes include THEFT BY REC, STOLEN PROP, POSS FIREARM CONVCT FELON, BURG, ENTERING VEHICLE, THEFT BY TAKING, FORG 1ST.
“Humphreys requested a last meal of barbecue beef brisket, pork ribs, bacon double cheeseburger, french fries, cole slaw, cornbread, buffalo wings, meat lovers pan pizza, vanilla ice cream and two lemon-lime sodas.” … Oxygen had a show, “The Real Murders of Atlanta.” Season 2, Episode 5 is devoted to this case. Previews are available at the link. The full episode is apparently not available now. … Update On Monday December 15, the execution of Stacey Humphreys was suspended until further notice, by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles. … Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. John Vachon took the social media picture in March 1941. “Construction worker from Ohio who lives in trailer with his family. Portsmouth, Virginia” ©Luther Mckinnon 2025 · selah