Georgia executes its oldest death row inmate for 1979 murder

By David Beasley
Georgia's oldest death row inmate, 72-year-old Brandon Astor Jones, is shown in this undated handout photo provided by the Georgia Department of Corrections in Jackson, Georgia, February 1, 2016. REUTERS/Georgia Dept of Corrections/Handout via Reuters

By David Beasley

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The oldest inmate on Georgia's death row, a 72-year-old man convicted of murdering a convenience store manager in a 1979 robbery, was executed early on Wednesday, a state prison official said.

Brandon Astor Jones died by lethal injection at 12:46 a.m., at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, in fifth execution this year in the United States.

(Writing by Letitia Stein; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)