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

Source: AP

By KATE BRUMBACK

JACKSON, Ga. (AP) — A Georgia man convicted of killing his ex-wife and her boyfriend more than two decades ago was put to death Wednesday evening, becoming the state’s first inmate to be executed this year.

Donnie Cleveland Lance, 66, received a lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson. His time of death was 9:05 p.m., Warden Benjamin Ford told witnesses.

Lance said nothing when he was given a chance to make a final statement and declined to have a chaplain say a prayer. Strapped to a gurney, he lay mostly still but wiggled his feet.

The warden left the execution chamber at 8:54 p.m. Records from previous executions show that the lethal drug generally begins flowing within a minute or two of the warden’s exit. Lance took about a dozen deep breaths and then became completely still about three minutes after the warden left.



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)


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