Georgia Supreme Court refuses to halt execution of man who killed store clerk

The Supreme Court of Georgia refused Friday to halt the execution of convicted killer Ray Jefferson Cromartie. In a unanimous decision, the Court also denied Cromartie's motion for a new trial.

Cromartie, 52, claims he was not the gunman in the April 1994 robbery and murder of a South Georgia convenience store clerk. Cromartie and his attorneys had asked for new DNA testing on clothing and shell casings they claim could prove Cromartie didn't kill 50-year-old Richard Slysz. Cromartie was convicted in 1997 in Thomas County and sentenced to death.

[RELATED: Georgia set to execute man convicted of killing store clerk]

"Upon consideration of Cromartie's application for discretionary appeal of the trial court's denial of his extraordinary motion for a new trial and associated motion for DNA testing, it is denied," the Supreme Court wrote in its order.

An attorney for Cromartie said Friday afternoon that DNA testing would prove he was not the gunman.

"Mr. Cromartie has maintained that he did not shoot the victim and that matters because under Georgia law he could have received a sentence less than death," Shawn Nolan, attorney for Cromartie, said in an emailed statement. "The only way to know for sure is to test the DNA, which is what we are asking the federal court to order."

Cromartie is scheduled to be killed Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. 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, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.

But before that, the Board of Pardons and Paroles meets Tuesday  to weigh Cromartie's case. The meeting, as is standard, is closed to the public and media.

Cox Media Group