Georgia Death Row Inmate Joshua Bishop Executed After Killing Man He Did Drugs With, Lawyers Say He Was Never Given A Chance

A Georgia death row prisoner, Joshua Bishop, 41, was executed Thursday at a state prison in Jackson after the Supreme Court refused an 11th-hour plea for leniency. Bishop was executed at exactly 9:27 p.m. by lethal injection for the 1994 killing of Leverett Morrison, 35, in Milledgeville, Georgia.

According to the Daily Mail, Bishop was served a last meal of Brunswick stew, potato chips, a barbecue sandwich, and coleslaw with a glass of lemonade and purple candy for dessert. Bishop was also allowed to receive 13 visitors, 12 of them were his friends.

A small but faithful group standing vigil for #JoshuaBishop at the GA State Capitol #deathpenalty pic.twitter.com/DnlZteDvIH

— Erik Wilkinson (@erik_wilkinson) March 31, 2016

Bishop’s execution was delayed when his lawyers made a final ditch for clemency to the U.S. Supreme Court after the State Board of Pardons and Paroles said Thursday that the execution would go ahead. His lawyers had turned to a Superior Court judge in Butts County, where he was scheduled to be executed, and the Supreme Court of Georgia, arguing that the trial judge’s instructions in the sentencing were not clear and that the jury had faltered in establishing their findings based on the facts presented. Their appeals were rejected.

Bishop’s legal team then went to the United States Supreme Court, saying their client had changed from the volatile teenager who fatally beat a man over 20 years ago. They further stated that his quietude and matured outlook towards life had made him a better person and a positive influence on all those around him.

“The story of Joshua Bishop’s life is one of deprivation, abuse and hopelessness and crime, but it is also one of faith, contrition, redemption, gratitude and love.”

According to them, Bishop had a horrible childhood. His mother was an alcoholic who did drugs in front of her son and had a weakness for men who physically abused her. His mother was always in trouble with the law for prostitution and alcohol and drug offenses, leaving Bishop to be rebounded between foster and group homes. His lawyers say he never had a chance at life. However, Morrison’s children insisted that the death sentence be carried out, and the Supreme Court supported the decision of the family. The execution went ahead at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center in Butts County.

Family and friends of Joshua Bishop gathered in protest of his execution tonight @13wmaznews pic.twitter.com/HS91z5vs8W

— Jobie Peeples (@jobiepeeples_) April 1, 2016

On a fateful night of June 1994, Bishop was drinking and smoking crack with Morrison and another man, Mark Braxley, in a trailer. Prosecutors say that Bishop tried to steal Morrison’s car keys and beat him to death when he woke up. Bishop, with the help of Braxley, dumped his body in between trash bins and set his jeep on fire. Both men were arrested in less than 24 hours, with Bishop showing remorse immediately for the crime committed, whereas Braxley lied about it.

Bishop even confessed to another murder that police authorities were not even aware of, which was the killing of Ricky Willis in Braxley’s trailer. Willis had bragged about sexually assaulting Bishop’s mother, a statement that enraged Bishop, making him punch Willis repeatedly before Braxley cut his throat with a knife.

In the trial of Morrison, Braxley and Bishop were charged with murder and armed robbery. A jury sentenced Bishop to die in 1996, while Braxley got a life sentence. Bishop’s lawyers always argued that Braxley was 17 years older than Bishop and wielded a considerable level of influence over him. They also said he was the one who told Bishop to pinch Morrison’s car keys because he wanted to go and see his girlfriend with his car.

Bishop’s legal counsel said the evidence used against him was disproportionate to the sentence meted, but he went on to be the third Georgia inmate executed in 2016. The next man scheduled to receive the death penalty in Georgia is Kenneth Fults, who is scheduled to die on April 12.

[Image courtesy of Georgia Department of Corrections]