Marion Wilson Jr, who was convicted of a 1996 murder, was the 10th person executed in the US in 2019 (HO)

Washington (AFP) – The US state of Georgia on Thursday executed a man convicted of murdering a plainclothes prison guard over 20 years ago.   

Marion Wilson Jr, 42, was put to death by lethal injection at 9:52 pm (0152 GMT Friday) by lethal injection at a prison in Jackson, in the center of the southern state.

Wilson was convicted for a murder he committed in March 1996 as part of a task for the violent “Folk Nation” gang. 

He and another man, Robert Earl Butts, spotted Donovan Corey Parks, a prison guard they knew, buying cat food at a grocery store.

They followed him to the parking lot and asked Parks for a ride home — but once they were in the car, Butts took out a gun. 

Only a few minutes later, they had left Parks’s body in the street. 

Wilson and Butts were swiftly arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. 

Both worked their way through the appeals process, but Butts was executed in May 2018.

Wilson, who insisted he was not the one who fired the fatal shot, was denied last-minute requests for clemency by the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles as well as the US Supreme Court.

He was the 10th person executed in the US this year. 

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.