Presnell execution remains postponed through weekend, officials say

Chart Riggall, Marietta Daily Journal, Ga.
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May 19—The execution of Virgil Delano Presnell Jr., who was scheduled to be killed by lethal injection Tuesday night, will not be carried out this week, a state official said Thursday.

Presnell's execution has been on hold since Monday, when a judge ruled the state had violated an agreement on when executions could resume after the pandemic.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shermela Williams' decision to stay the execution was appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia by Attorney General Chris Carr, but the court has yet to rule on the case.

Joan Heath, spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Corrections, said the execution remains on hold and would not be carried out Friday or over the weekend. The execution warrant remains valid for seven days, expiring next Tuesday.

Presnell has been on death row since 1976 for abducting eight-year-old Lori Smith and her 10-year-old friend from a wooded path in Smyrna as they walked home from school. He drove them to another wooded area in Cobb, where he raped the older girl and drowned Smith in Nickajack Creek.

Though Presnell's attorneys asked for a 90-day stay of his execution and a commutation of his sentence to life without parole, Georgia's Board of Paroles and Pardons denied that request Monday.