ATLANTA - The State Board of Pardons and Paroles has denied clemency to Donnie Cleveland Lance. The decision by the five member board comes following a meeting today to consider clemency in the case.

 

Lance is to be executed tomorrow, January 29, 2020, for the 1997 murders of Sabrina Joy Lance and Dwight Wood, Jr. The Jackson County Superior Court ordered the execution and the Georgia Department of Corrections scheduled it to take place at 7 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

 

In addition to information received at the meeting, the Board Members considered information contained in the case file maintained on Lance. The Board maintains a comprehensive file on each death row inmate. The file contains background information on the condemned inmate including the inmate’s criminal history and the circumstances of the crime(s) committed resulting in the death sentence.

 

The Parole Board has the authority to grant clemency in a death penalty case, commuting or reducing the sentence to life with parole eligibility or to life without parole eligibility. The Board may also issue a stay or deny clemency. In Georgia, the Parole Board has the sole constitutional authority to grant clemency in a death penalty case.

 

To view a photo of Donnie Cleveland Lance, go to www.gdc.georgia.gov, click on Find an Offender, agree to the terms on the disclaimer page and search by the offender’s EF number, 421641.

 

For more information please contact Steve Hayes, Director of Communications for the State Board of Pardons and Paroles at 404-657-9450 or [email protected] or visit our website at www.pap.georgia.gov.