The scheduled execution of convicted murderer Melbert Ford will not happen Feb. 23 as planned. A stay of execution has been issued for up to 90 days due to a vacancy on the Board of Pardons and Paroles. To execute when there is not a full board is a violation of law. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is responsible for filling the vacant spot. The Newton County Superior Court ordered the execution of Ford earlier this month. The court ordered the department to carry out the execution on a date between February 23 and March 2. The execution was scheduled to take place at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 23.Ford was sentenced to death in 1986 for the murder of his former girlfriend and her niece. If executed, he will be the 24th inmate put to death by lethal injection in Georgia.
Ford granted stay of execution
