Photo By Michael AlexanderAtlanta
Georgia’s bishops urge pardons board to commute death sentence of Stacey Humphreys
By GEORGIA BULLETIN STAFF | Published September 14, 2026 | En Español
ATLANTA—In a Sept. 14 statement, Georgia’s Catholic bishops—Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv., of Atlanta; Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah and Atlanta’s auxiliary bishops—ask the state’s board of pardon and paroles to commute the sentence of death row inmate Stacey Humphreys.
Cobb County’s Superior Court has ordered the execution of Humphreys. The Georgia Department of Corrections is set to carry out the execution the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 16, at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Humphreys was convicted in Cobb County for the 2003 murders of Lori Brown and Cyndi Williams. If executed, he will be the 55th inmate put to death by lethal injection.
The bishops’ statement follows:
“In spite of growing public opposition to the death penalty in our country, the state of Georgia has chosen to perpetuate a culture of death and scheduled the execution of Stacey Humphreys for September 16.
Mr. Humphreys does not deny having committed the crimes for which he was convicted, and we are not arguing for his innocence. Instead, we ask for mercy and forgiveness, especially in light of the deep remorse and desire to take accountability that Mr. Humphreys expressed even prior to his trial.
This mercy is not granted at the expense of the memory and dignity of his victims, Cyndi Williams and Lori Brown. Rather, it is a clear sign of the firm rejection of the very violence that took their lives. As a state, as a society, we must commit to pursuing justice in a manner that does not devolve into vengeance and further violence.
We, the Catholic bishops of Georgia, urge the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to choose mercy, to embrace a culture of life and honor the will of the 11 jurors who voted for life by commuting Mr. Humphreys’ sentence to life without parole.
Our prayers are for the healing of the families and loved ones of Cyndi Williams and Lori Brown; they are for our elected officials, that they can come to see their role as one that should preserve life rather than take it; and they are for Stacey Humphreys, that he is granted mercy and his life is spared.”
