While Georgia prepares to execute a woman next week, a Newton County judge signed a warrant Friday setting another lethal injection as soon as eight days later.
A Walton County Superior Court judge set Brian Keith Terrell’s execution to occur during the seven days that start March 10.
Kelly Gissendaner is scheduled to die Monday. Her execution, the first of a woman in Georgia since 1945, was reset from Wednesday as a winter storm threatened.
The stepped-up pace at which executions have been scheduled is unprecedented. Until now months, and sometimes years, have passed between executions in Georgia since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s.
If Gissendaner is executed Monday and then the 46-year-old Terrell dies by lethal injection the next week, they would be the fourth and fifth murderers Georgia has put to death since Dec. 9, when Robert Holsey was executed. Andrew Brannan was put to death on Jan. 13. And Warren Hill died by lethal injection on Jan. 27.
Terrell had already been to prison once before he was sentenced to Death Row.
He served about 1 1/2 years for a 1990 DeKalb County home invasion and had been free little more than a month when he killed John Watson on June 21, 1992.
According to testimony, Watson was close friends with Terrell’s mother and had been friendly with Terrell as well.
Still, Terrell broke into Watson’s house, stole 10 blank checks and used them. Terrell even signed his own name.
Watson soon found out and told Terrell’s mother. Watson also called the sheriff’s office but he told the reporting deputy he did not want to pursue a case against Terrell. Instead, Watson gave Terrell two days to return any checks he still had.
But the day before that deadline, Terrell went to Watson’s house where, armed with a pistol, he waited for Watson to leave the house for a dialysis appointment.
Terrell emptied the gun once, wounding Watson when a bullet ricocheted into his leg. Terrell reloaded, chased Watson down and shot him three times more. Terrell dragged Watson, still alive, into a secluded area and beat him so badly that a broken bone penetrated Watson’s brain.
Afterward, Terrell and a cousin went clothes shopping. Later that day, Terrell took his son to the zoo, where he tossed away the gun.
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