Execution set for Marcus Ray Johnson

ATLANTA — Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens has announced Nov. 19 as the execution date for Marcus Ray Johnson of Albany, convicted for the 1994 murder of Angela Sizemore.

Olens said Johnson’s direct appeal proceedings and his state and federal habeas corpus proceedings have been concluded. On Monday, the Superior Court of Dougherty County issued an order setting a seven-day period of time during which the execution of Johnson may take place.

The period of time initially ordered by the Superior Court was from noon on Nov. 19 to noon on Nov. 26. The state then set the execution for Nov. 19.

The evidence from trial shows that the victim, Angela Sizemore, met Johnson in a west Albany bar called Fundamentals between 12:30 and 1:30 a.m. on March 24, 1994. Sizemore had been to a memorial service for an acquaintance the previous day, and she had been drinking heavily. The bar owner and its security officer, who both personally knew Johnson, testified they saw Johnson and Sizemore kissing and behaving amorously.

Court records show Johnson and Sizemore left Fundamentals together, and the bartender handed Sizemore’s car keys directly to Johnson. Authorities said they were seen walking towards Sixteenth Avenue. At approximately 8 a.m. on March 24, 1994, a man walking his dog found Sizemore’s white Suburban parked behind an apartment complex in East Albany, with her body lying across the front passenger seat.

She had reportedly been cut and stabbed 41 times with a small, dull knife and she had bruises and marks from being hit and dragged. The medical examiner also testified she was alive during the stabbing and genital mutilation.

The police determined that Sizemore was murdered in a vacant lot near Sixteenth Avenue in west Albany. Present in the lot were bloodstains, scuff marks, drag marks and a pecan branch with blood and tissue on one end. The medical examiner testified that this branch was consistent with the object used to mutilate the victim’s vagina. The vacant lot is about two blocks from Fundamentals and about half a block from the house where Johnson lived with his mother.

DNA testing revealed the presence of the victim’s blood on Johnson’s leather jacket. Johnson had a pocketknife consistent with the knife wounds on the victim’s body. He had scratches on his hands, arms, and neck. In a statement, Johnson said he and the victim had sex in the vacant lot and he “kind of lost it.” According to Johnson, the victim became angry because he did not want to “snuggle” after sex and he punched her in the face, officials said.

Johnson’s first scheduled execution was originally set for Oct. 5, 2011. On October 4, 2011, Johnson’s execution was stayed pending post-conviction DNA testing and a decision on his extraordinary motion for new trial. An order was entered in the Dougherty County Superior Court on April 20, denying Johnson’s extraordinary motion for new trial.