Man executed for 1993 murders

ATLANTA — The state of Georgia on Thursday executed a man convicted of murdering his parents and 14-year-old sister in Cobb County in 1993.

The execution of Andrew Grant DeYoung was videotaped after his attorneys argued one of the drugs the state now uses during executions — an alternative to sodium thiopental — could lead to pain, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and The Associated Press reported. The state sought to overturn a judge’s order that the execution be videotaped, but failed in its bid, according to published reports, and the execution was delayed a day so state officials could handle the logistics of the videotaping.

DeYoung was convicted in Cobb County of the June 14, 1993, murders of his parents — Kathryn and Gary DeYoung — and his 14-year-old sister, Sarah DeYoung. Prosecutors say DeYoung killed his parents in order to receive an inheritance from their estate.

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday denied clemency for DeYoung, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. An accomplice — David Michael Hagerty — pleaded guilty to three counts of malice murder; he is currently serving life in prison.

DeYoung was the 28th inmate put to death by lethal injection in Georgia. A total of 50 men have been executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973, according to state officials.

Media witnesses for the execution were Shannon McCaffrey of The Associated Press, Jim Burress of WABE-FM (NPR), Jon Gillooly of the Marietta Daily Journal and Rhonda Cook of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.