News

Actions

Georgia man put to death for the 1997 killings of 2 people

Posted at 9:45 PM, Jan 29, 2020
and last updated 2020-01-29 21:45:44-05

A man convicted of killing his ex-wife and her boyfriend more than two decades ago has been put to death in Georgia.

Sixty-six-year-old inmate Donnie Cleveland Lance received a lethal injection Wednesday evening at the state prison in Jackson for the November 1997 killings of Sabrina “Joy” Lance and Dwight “Butch” Wood Jr.

FILE – In this undated file photo released by the Georgia Department of Corrections, shows death row inmate Donnie Cleveland Lance, who was convicted of killing his ex-wife and her boyfriend more than 20 years ago. Lance is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson, Ga., Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (Georgia Department of Corrections via AP, File)

Officials said Lance was pronounced dead at 9:05 p.m. Wednesday. He became the first inmate executed by the state of Georgia this year.

Related: Fifth condemned Tennessee inmate opts for the electric chair

The U.S. Supreme Court had denied an 11th-hour defense request to block the execution from being carried out.

The inmate made no final statement.