This would be the fifth execution in Texas this year, while Georgia has yet to put anyone to death. The nation\u2019s busiest death chamber is in Florida, which accounted for more than half the 25 executions already carried out in the U.S. this year.<\/p>\n
In the Texas case, LeJames Norman,<\/a> 40, was sentenced to death over the 2005 fatal shootings of Samuel Roberts, 24, Tiffani Peacock, 18, and Celso Lopez, 38, while looking for cocaine inside their home. He is scheduled to die by injection of the sedative pentobarbital at 6 p.m. CDT at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.<\/p>\n Stacey Humphreys, 53, was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown in an Atlanta suburb. He too had been scheduled to die by an injection of the same drug at 7 p.m. EDT at the state prison near Jackson.<\/p>\n However, a judge halted Humphreys\u2019 execution<\/a> late Tuesday after his lawyers filed a petition seeking a resentencing under a new state law<\/a> that allows victims of abuse to have their sentences reconsidered and reduced, if they can tie their crimes to abuse they suffered.<\/p>\n The state appealed that ruling, asking the Georgia Supreme Court to find that Humphreys is not entitled to have his sentence reconsidered under the new law. But the high court declined to hear that appeal before the scheduled execution time and left the lower court\u2019s stay in place.<\/p>\n Georgia\u2019s high court said it would consider the questions raised about the new law in the state\u2019s appeal \u201cin the ordinary course of business and according to a forthcoming scheduling order.\u201d<\/p>\n An attempted robbery turned deadly<\/p>\n Norman believed there was cocaine in the house in Edna, a small, rural city about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Houston, and hoped to steal it alongside Ker\u2019Sean Ramey<\/a>, according to court records. But they never found any drugs and fatally shot three people in the home. Lopez was shot four times, including three in the back of his head. Peacock was shot twice in the head. Roberts was shot five times to the chest, neck and head.<\/p>\n Norman was arrested about five months after the killings while trying to cross back into the U.S. from Mexico. He pleaded guilty to capital murder, leaving a jury to decide his punishment.<\/p>\n Ramey was also convicted in the shootings and sentenced to death. His execution is set for next week.<\/p>\n The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request on Wednesday from Norman\u2019s attorneys to stop his execution.<\/p>\n Killings at a model home and allegations of a biased juror<\/p>\n The two women who Humphreys killed were working as real estate agents for a new subdivision in the Atlanta suburb of Powder Springs. He entered the sales office in a model home around midday on Nov. 3, 2003, and forced them to strip naked and give him their bank PINs before fatally shooting them, according to evidence presented at trial.<\/p>\n Humphreys withdrew more than $3,000 from the women\u2019s bank accounts, according to court filings. He told police after his arrest that he had recently taken out some high-interest payday loans and needed money for a payment on his truck.<\/p>\n Witnesses told police they saw a man fitting Humphreys\u2019 description at the sales office and a vehicle in the parking lot that matched his black Dodge Durango. Police zeroed in on Humphreys and tried to question him at his Dunwoody home days later. He fled and was arrested in Wisconsin after leading police on a high-speed chase.<\/p>\n In addition to the petition for a reduced sentence, Humphreys\u2019 lawyers have argued that he should be resentenced because his death sentence was tainted by a biased juror<\/a> who lied during jury selection and bullied other jurors into voting for a death sentence. Courts have repeatedly rejected those arguments for procedural reasons, though U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by the other two liberal justices, argued last year that the issue should be further explored rather than leaving it \u201ccaught in a web of procedural barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, Humphreys\u2019 lawyers have argued that it was not fair that his clemency application was heard by only four members of the five-person State Board of Pardons and Paroles. A judge had ordered one member of the board to recuse herself, agreeing with Humphreys\u2019 legal team that there was a conflict of interest<\/a> because she previously worked as a victim advocate with the Cobb County district attorney\u2019s office and had worked with the victims in his case. The parole board on Tuesday denied clemency for Humphreys.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \n The 9\/11 Memorial & Museum is adding a permanent seventh moment of silence to honor first responders, recovery workers and survivors who died from 9\/11-related illnesses\n <\/p>\n September 10, 2026 08:19 AM<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \n Federal officials will examine whether environmental conditions at the aging facility violate constitutional standards and federal law\n <\/p>\n September 10, 2026 06:56 PM<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \n Prosecutors allege the former officer returned the wounded inmate to the general population or failed to provide medical care after learning he had been stabbed at William Donaldson Correctional Facility\n <\/p>\n September 10, 2026 07:05 PM<\/p>\n ____<\/p>\n Brumback reported from Atlanta and Stengle reported from Dallas.<\/p>\n![\"Bill](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789598538_185_.jpeg\")
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