Man Who Killed 2 GA Real Estate Agents Set To Be Executed This Month

ATLANTA, GA — An execution date has been set for a man convicted of fatally shooting two Cobb County real-estate agents at a model home in November 2003, according to Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and the Georgia Department of Corrections on Wednesday.

The Cobb County Superior Court on Monday ordered a seven-day window from Dec. 17 to execute Stacey Humphreys, convicted of killing Cindy Williams and Lori Brown.

The GDC said Humphreys is set to be executed at 7 p.m. on Dec. 17 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. He will be the 55th prisoner to be put to death by lethal injection in Georgia, the GDC said.

“I know I did it."

Williams and Brown died 22 years ago when Humphreys, who was on parole at the time, entered a home construction company’s sales office in a model home around 12:45 p.m., Nov. 3, 2003, Carr said. The model was for a new subdivision in Cobb.

Humphreys first encountered Williams alone in the office, where he used a stolen handgun to force her to undress and to tell him the PIN for her ATM card.

He then called Williams' bank to determine her current balance before tying her underwear around her neck. Carr said the underwear was tied so tightly that, when her body was found, "her neck bore a prominent ligature mark and her tongue was protruding from her mouth, which had turned purple."

While choking her, Humphreys made her get onto her hands and knees and move into Brown's office behind Brown's desk.

He then put his handgun on Williams' back, setting a bag of balloons between the gun and her body in an effort to muffle the gunshot sound, Carr said.

He shot Williams in her back, and the bullet went through her lung and heart. Carr said a second shot went through her head.

Humphreys then left Williams face down on her hands and knees under the desk.

Around that time, Brown had come into the office, and Carr said Humphreys attacked her in a similar manner as Williams.

As Brown kneeled with her head facing the floor, Humphreys fired one shot through her head and used a bag of balloons and Brown's folded blouse to hinder the sound.

Brown was either choked in a "headlock-type grip" or hit in her throat as indicated by a hemorrhaging in her throat, Carr said.

As he did to Williams, Humphreys obtained Brown's PIN and called her bank for her balance.

He then dragged Brown's body to her desk and took both of the women's driver's licenses, along with their ATM and credit cards. He left the scene around 1:30 p.m., Carr said.

The builder in the model home heard the security system's door chime, indicating that someone had left the sales office, and he went to meet with the agents.

He then found Brown's body and called 911. Carr said the responding officer found Williams' body, and the women had no defensive wounds.

During the investigation, police released the descriptions of the suspect and the Dodge Durango seen at the sales office at that time.

Carr said someone at the job site where Humphreys worked recognized him and the truck and notified authorities. The person said Humphreys did not arrive to work the day Williams and Brown died.

Humphreys' parole officer arranged for him to meet with police four days after the fatal shootings, but Carr said Humphreys did not arrive to the meeting and "eluded police officers who had him under surveillance."

The next day, Humphreys was arrested in Wisconsin, where officers recovered a Ruger 9-millimeter pistol from the console of his rental vehicle.

Officers determined the Ruger to be the murder weapon, and Williams' blood DNA was found on the gun, Carr said. Additionally, Brown's DNA was located on the driver-side floor mat of Humphreys' Durango.

After killing Williams and Brown, Carr said Humphreys withdrew more than $3,000 from their bank accounts.

Two days after the deadly shootings, he deposited $1,000 into his account; but at the time of his arrest, Humphreys had about $800 in cash on him.

He told police that he did not remember his past actions; but Carr said when asked why he fled, Humphreys told officers, “I know I did it. I know it just as well as I know my own name.”

Furthermore, Humphreys told officers "that he had recently taken out some high-interest 'payday' loans and that he 'got over (his) head with that stinking truck.'"

Sentenced To Death

A year later, a grand jury in Cobb indicted Humphreys on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping with bodily injury, armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

After state prosecutors filed a notice to seek the death penalty, a jury trial began on Sept. 18, 2007. A week later, he was found guilty of most charges and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

On Sept. 30, 2007, at the end of the trial's sentencing phase, a jury recommended the death penalty for the two murder convictions, Carr said. Ultimately, the court sentenced him to death.

Additional sentencing went as follows: 20 years concurrent for each count of aggravated assault, life imprisonment consecutive for each count of kidnapping with bodily injury, life imprisonment consecutive for each count of armed robbery and five years concurrent for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Humphreys requested a new trial days later, but his motion was denied on Feb. 19, 2009, and the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and death sentences on March 15, 2010, Carr said.

Subsequent motions and appeals were also denied.