Photo by Dayne Francis | The Signal
People congregated on the Georgia State Capitol’s front stoop Tuesday for a vigil for Kenneth Fults, a death row inmate who was executed around 7:30 that evening for murdering a woman in 1996.
Fults pleaded guilty to the charges on May 19, 1997, admitting to shooting the white woman five times while in the middle of a burglary.
Since the death penalty verdict, there have been suspicions about Fults’ trial being racially biased, as one of the jurors, Thomas Buffington, used racial slurs to describe Fults after the trial, according to the Huffington Post.
In his 2005 affidavit, Buffington wrote, “I don’t know if [Fults] ever killed anybody, but that n***** got just what should have happened.Once he pled guilty, I knew I would vote for the death penalty because that’s what that n***** deserved.”
Despite some concern of racial bias and Fults’ attorneys’ appeals, the Georgia Supreme Court denied appeals to halt or postpone the execution.
Murphy Davis, founder of the Open Door Community said Fults had an intelligence disability which was apparent from his behavior.
“He was very child-like, and didn’t function in an adult level, [and had] impulse control problems,” she said.
Davis, who was sporting a button on her shirt saying “Execute Justice NOT People,” said she was disappointed in the state continuing to execute people, one of the few remaining in the U.S.
“Technically, executions are still legal in over 35 states,” she said. “But only Texas, Missouri, Georgia and Florida have executed individuals in the past couple of years.”
Other Open Door Community volunteers said there have been more executions under Governor Deal than any other governor in Georgia.
Fults was the fourth execution in Georgia this year, with another inmate, Daniel Lucas, following on April 27. So far, 2015 holds the highest number of executions since 1987 in Georgia, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. And experts told WABE Georgia is one of the fastest-paced states when it comes to executions.
