Brandon Astor Jones, the oldest man on Georgia's death row at 72 years old, was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that Jones was convicted of murdering a convenience store manager during a 1979 robbery in the Atlanta suburbs.
The U.S. Supreme Court considered last minute appeals for mercy filed by Jones' lawyers, which delayed the execution, originally scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
"They asked the justices to block the execution for either of two reasons: because Jones was challenging Georgia's lethal injection secrecy law or because he said his death sentence was disproportionate to his crime,"
The Associated Press reported.
The court ultimately rejected the appeals around 11 p.m.
"Today Brandon Jones will be executed, possibly in violation of the Constitution. He may also be cruelly and unusually punished in the process. But if he is, we will not know until it's too late - if ever," wrote Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, dissenting from the majority opinion.
Jones and another man, Van Roosevelt Solomon, were arrested on June 17, 1979 at a Cobb County store.
Trial evidence showed that a police officer had driven a stranded motorist there after midnight, and discovered that the store — which usually closed at midnight — was still open. Jones, Solomon, and the body of store manager Roger Tackett were found inside a storeroom, and test showed each man had recently fired a gun. The cash drawer was found wrapped in a plastic bag.
Solomon was executed by electric chair in February 1985.
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