Commissioner: Gregory C. Dozier

Director of Public Affairs: Joan Heath

Keith Leroy Tharpe to be executed on September 26

FORSYTH, Ga. – The Jones County Superior Court has ordered the execution of convicted murderer Keith Leroy Tharpe. The court ordered the Georgia Department of Corrections to carry out the execution on a date between September 26 and October 3, 2017. Commissioner Gregory C. Dozier has set the date for Tuesday, September 26, at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson at 7 p.m.

Tharpe was convicted for the 1990 murder of Jacquelin Freeman.  If executed, Tharpe will be the 48th inmate put to death by lethal injection.

Media interested in a photograph of Tharpe and a listing of his crimes may visit the GDC website (https://gdc.georgia.gov).

The GDC has one of the largest prison systems in the U.S. and is responsible for supervising nearly 52,000 state prisoners.  It is the largest law enforcement agency in the state with approximately 10,500 employees.