Atlanta, GA – The State Board of Pardons and Paroles has invited representatives for condemned inmate Marcus Wellons to meet with the Board on Monday, June 16, 2014, at 9:00 a.m., to advocate for clemency for him. Wellons is scheduled to die by lethal injection on June 17, 2014, at 7:00 p.m., at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia.

Marcus Wellons was convicted of the murder and rape of 15-year-old India Roberts in Cobb County committed on August 31, 1989. The jury found as statutory aggravating circumstances that the murder was committed in the course of two other capital felonies: rape and kidnapping with bodily injury. In June 1993, a jury convicted Marcus Wellons of malice murder and sentenced him to death. Wellons received a life sentence for the rape.

The Georgia Supreme Court later upheld the conviction and affirmed the jury’s verdict. Wellons has concluded his state and federal habeas corpus proceedings. The U.S. Supreme Court denied his appeal in October 2013.

 

The Board appointment will not be open to the media, but a photo opportunity will be afforded prior to the start of the appointment. Media should check in with credentials by 8:30 a.m., in the Board’s public reception office at 2 Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive, East Tower, 4th Floor, room 458. Media should first be cleared for entry by building security on the Plaza Level. Members of the media will be given an opportunity to wait until the conclusion of the appointment to interview those seeking executive clemency for Wellons, if they choose to grant interviews.

For more information on the Parole Board, please visit our website at www.pap.georgia.gov.