Andrew Grant DeYoung

Andrew Grant DeYoung (May 12, 1974 – July 21, 2011) was an American who was convicted of and executed for the 1993 murder of his parents and sister in the state of Georgia. The state conducted the execution in H-5 of the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison (GDCP) in Jackson, Georgia.[1] DeYoung was 19 when he committed the murders and 37 when he died.

He was notable for having his execution videotaped. His lawyers had gained judicial permission for this to gain evidence as to "whether lethal injection caused unnecessary suffering."[2]

Murders and trial

On June 14, 1993, the 19-year-old DeYoung repeatedly stabbed his mother, Kathryn, while she was sleeping. Awakened by her screams, his father Gary DeYoung struggled with Andrew before also being killed. Andrew DeYoung fatally stabbed his sister Sarah in the hallway outside their parents' bedroom. He had assigned an accomplice, David Michael Hagerty, to kill his brother Nathan, but the boy escaped through a bedroom window and ran to a neighbor's house for help.[3]

On October 13, 1995, Andrew DeYoung was convicted by a jury of the first-degree murders of his parents, Gary and Kathryn DeYoung, and of his 14-year-old sister, Sarah. According to the prosecution, DeYoung killed his family in order to collect an inheritance from their estate, which he estimated to be worth approximately $480,000.

Videotaping of execution

DeYoung was the first person in 19 years in the United States to have the execution videotaped and the first in which execution by lethal injection was recorded. The previous videotaped execution had been a gas chamber execution that took place in California. Other states are now considering videotaping executions.[4] There is open discussion concerning whether or not making executions public would sway people to be more for or more against the death penalty.[2]

Biography

DeYoung was interested primarily in philosophy. He also spent time studying a variety of other topics, including mathematics (calculus, surreal math), the sciences (physics, astronomy, quantum mechanics), financial topics (investing, the economy), and politics. His favorite magazines were Discover and Inc.

Further reading

Dawn Anastasi self-published her book Knowing Andrew (2012) through Lulu Press. It is primarily a collection of his letters to her which he wrote over a span of 16 years. Anastasi first wrote to DeYoung when he was held in the Cobb County Jail awaiting trial. Their correspondence continued while he was held on death row in the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center, and to his execution in July 2011.

References

  1. ↑ Andrew DeYoung Execution: Georgia Inmate Dies In Video-Recorded Lethal Injection
  2. 1 2 ZACHARY B. SHEMTOB and DAVID LAT, Opinion: "Executions Should be Televised", New York Times, 31 July 2011; Quote: "Lawyers for the condemned inmate, Andrew Grant DeYoung, had persuaded a judge to allow the recording of his last moments as part of an effort to obtain evidence on whether lethal injection caused unnecessary suffering."
  3. ↑ DeYOUNG v. STATE - No. S97P0875, 1995
  4. ↑ "Georgia's videotaped execution sets new precedent", ABC12, 16 January 2013
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