Warren Hill, Courtesy of Georgia Department of Corrections
Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty plan to hold vigils in 11 cities around the state in support of convicted murderer Warren Hill.
Hill is set to be executed Wednesday unless the U.S. Supreme Court intervenes. He was serving a life sentence for shooting his girlfriend multiple times. When he bludgeoned his cellmate to death with a wooden plank studded with nails, he was sentenced to death.
Hill has an IQ of 70, which puts him in the range of someone with mental retardation. While it is against state law to execute the mentally disabled, the defendant has to be proven so beyond a reasonable doubt, and Hill has not.
Monday, the Georgia board of pardons and paroled denied clemency for Hill.
"Georgia's legal system has once more brought shame and embarrassment to our state, this time by failing to intervene and protect those who are most vulnerable. We continue to set the bar for the worst criminal justice practices in the country," said Katheryn Hamouda, board chair for GFADP.
The Macon vigil will be held Monday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.