A Georgia inmate convicted of carjacking a man from a Walmart parking lot and murdering him will be put to death next week.
It’s been 22 years since Robert Earl Butts, Jr. killed Donovan Parks.
According to court documents provided by Attorney General Chris Carr's office, Parks was shot while lying on the ground outside his car on March 28, 1996.
The victim had originally gone to a Milledgeville Walmart to pick up items for his pets when Butts and another man, Marion Wilson Jr., got in line behind him.
Investigators said Butts was wearing a coat under which he likely had his weapon - a shotgun. Butts later confessed to others what followed that night.
According to court records, Butts and Wilson both followed their victim to his car and asked for a ride.
After making room, Parks agreed to drive them. From there, Butts sat in the front of the car and Wilson sat in the back.
A short distance away, Parks was ordered out of the car and dragged to the ground by his tie.
Butts then pulled out his shotgun and fired into the back of the driver's head killing him.
The two suspects then took the victim's car to a gas station in Gray to refuel.
They were on their way to exchange the car at a "chop shop" for money but were unsuccessful.
Instead, they bought cans of gasoline, drove to Macon and set the car on fire.
From there they called an uncle of Butts to get them back to the Walmart where they first initiated their crime so that they could pick up their vehicle.
Witness testimony, license plate numbers and a shotgun under Butts's bed were enough to put him in jail.
He then allegedly confessed to other people in the jail that he was the triggerman in the murder.
Robert Earl Butts Jr. has been scheduled for execution on May 3 at 7 p.m.
Condemned inmates are typically granted a last meal request.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Tharpe ordered his Thursday.
He wants a bacon cheeseburger with American and Cheddar cheese, a ribeye steak, six chicken tenders, seasoned fries, cheesecake and strawberry lemonade.
Butts will be the 49th inmate put to death by lethal injection in Georgia.
There have been 70 men and one woman executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, according to a Georgia Corrections news release.
13WMAZ’s Randall Savage will be a media witness for Butts’ execution.
