Officials: Execution for Georgia Child Killer Not Carried Out on Tuesday as Scheduled

Officials: Execution for Georgia Child Killer Not Carried Out on Tuesday as Scheduled
Virgil Presnell. Georgia Department of Corrections via AP
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JACKSON, Ga.—A Georgia man who killed an 8-year-old girl and raped her 10-year-old friend 46 years ago was not executed as scheduled Tuesday night, state officials said as a temporary stay put in place by a judge remained in effect.

A judge on Monday issued the order pausing the state’s plans to administer a lethal injection a day later to Virgil Delano Presnell Jr. The state on Tuesday appealed that order to the Georgia Supreme Court, which still hadn’t ruled as the 7 p.m. execution time approached.