Georgia Department of Corrections
Brian Owens, Commissioner
Director of Public Affairs
Joan Heath
Contact: Office of Public Affairs (404) 656-9772
STATE OF GEORGIA
For Immediate Release
Ford Execution Media Advisory
Inmate’s Last Meal
Atlanta – Condemned murderer Melbert Ray Ford is scheduled for execution by lethal injection at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 9, at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Ford was sentenced to death in 1986 for the murder of his former girlfriend and her niece.
Media witnesses for the execution are: Greg Bluestein, The Associated Press; Alice Queen, The Newton Citizen/Rockdale Citizen; and Amber Pittman, The Covington News.
Ford requested a last meal consisting of fried fish and shrimp, a baked potato, salad, boiled corn, ice cream, cheesecake and soda.
There have been 46 men executed in Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1973. If executed, Ford will be the 24th inmate put to death by lethal injection. There are presently 103 people on death row 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 Tuesday.####