RELIGION

Georgia to execute man convicted in beating death

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Georgia death row inmate Joshua Bishop is shown in this undated prison photo released Tuesday, March 29, 2016 by the Georgia Department of Corrections. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles announced that it will hear from advocates for Bishop on March 30, 2016. Bishop is scheduled to die the next day. Bishop was convicted of murder and armed robbery in the 1994 beating death of Leverett Morrison in Milledgeville, Ga. The parole board is the only entity in Georgia authorized to commute a death sentence. (Georgia Department of Corrections via AP) (The Associated Press)

Georgia death row inmate Joshua Bishop is shown in this undated prison photo released Tuesday, March 29, 2016 by the Georgia Department of Corrections. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles announced that it will hear from advocates for Bishop on March 30, 2016. Bishop is scheduled to die the next day. Bishop was convicted of murder and armed robbery in the 1994 beating death of Leverett Morrison in Milledgeville, Ga. The parole board is the only entity in Georgia authorized to commute a death sentence. (Georgia Department of Corrections via AP) (The Associated Press)

Georgia is set to execute a death row inmate convicted of beating another man to death in 1994.

Joshua Bishop is scheduled to die at 7 p.m. Thursday at the state prison in Jackson by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital.

The 41-year-old inmate was convicted in the June 1994 killing of Leverett Morrison in Milledgeville.

Bishop, Morrison and Mark Braxley had been drinking and smoking crack on June 24, 1994. Prosecutors say Bishop tried to steal car keys from Morrison, who was sleeping, and he and Braxley beat Morrison to death when he woke up.

Bishop and Braxley dumped Morrison's body between two trash bins and burned his Jeep.

A jury sentenced Bishop to die after a trial in 1996. Braxley pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence.