Georgia Postpones All Executions Indefinitely

Officials in Georgia announced Tuesday that the state was indefinitely suspending executions while it tests the drugs that it had planned to use in an execution on Monday night. The decision came a day after Georgia called off the execution of Kelly Renee Gissendaner, the only woman on the state’s death row, several hours after it was set to take place. This was the second time the state postponed her execution in less than a week. Gissendaner, who was convicted of murdering her husband nearly two decades ago, was originally set to be put to death last week, but officials pushed it to Monday due to a winter storm.

On Monday night, the Georgia Department of Corrections announced that it was postponing the execution because the lethal injection drug “appeared cloudy.” After a pharmacist was consulted, the execution was called off, and a new date was not announced.

The department said Tuesday it was indefinitely postponing the executions of Gissendaner and Brian Keith Terrell, who was scheduled to be executed next week, “while an analysis is conducted of the drugs” that were meant to be used Monday night.

No new dates were announced for the executions. Instead, the department said that when it “is prepared to proceed,” sentencing courts will issue new execution orders.