Cromartie Execution Media Advisory

Commissioner: Timothy C. Ward

Director of Public Affairs: Joan Heath

Inmate’s last meal

FORSYTH, Ga. – Condemned murderer Ray Jefferson Cromartie is scheduled for execution by lethal injection at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 30 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Cromartie was sentenced to death in 1997 for the murder of Richard A. Slysz.

Media witnesses for the execution are Kate Brumback, Associated Press – Atlanta Bureau, Joshua Sharpe, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Desiree Carver, Valdosta Daily Times, Asia Wilson, WALB News 10, and Robert Preston Junior, Broadcast South/DouglasNow.com.

Cromartie requested a last meal of steak, lobster, macaroni and cheese, cube steak, rice and gravy, steak and cheese sandwich, double cheeseburger, fries, side of ranch dressing, strawberry milkshake and layered cake with white icing.  

There have been 73 men and one woman executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. If executed, Cromartie will be the 52nd inmate put to death by lethal injection.  There are presently 46 men and one woman under death sentence in Georgia.

The Georgia Diagnostic & Classification Prison is located 45 minutes south of Atlanta off Interstate 75.  From Atlanta, take exit 201 (Ga. Hwy. 36), turn left over the bridge and go approximately ¼ mile.  The entrance to the prison is on the left.  Media covering the execution will be allowed into the prison’s media staging area beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

About the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC)

The Georgia Department of Corrections (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. For more information on the GDC, call 478-992-5247 or visit https://gdc.georgia.gov.