Georgia executes Gregory Paul Lawler

ATLANTA — The state of Georgia has executed a 63-year-old man for the 1997 murder of an Atlanta Police officer.

Gregory Paul Lawler did not make a final statement or partake in a prayer before his execution, WSB-AM reported. He is the seventh person to be executed in Georgia this year.

According to prosecutors, Lawler opened fire on Sowa and Officer Patricia Cocciolone after they went to his apartment while trying to help his drunken girlfriend get home. Officers encountered the woman after she was arguing with Lawler in a nearby parking lot, according to authorities.

Lawler was arrested after an hours-long standoff. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2000.

The Georgia Supreme Court on Jan. 27, 2003, unanimously affirmed Lawler’s convictions and death sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 6, 2003, denied Lawler’s request to appeal; the nation’s highest court declined another appeal this year.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the execution. Earlier this week, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to grant clemency.