A judge delayed the execution of a man convicted of murdering and raping an 8-year-old.

Virgil Delano Presnell Jr. initially rejected the authorities’ suspicions, but he eventually confessed and directed them to the location where the girl’s bones had been discovered.

A man who was supposed to be executed in Georgia on Monday after being convicted of murdering an 8-year-old girl and raping a 10-year-old girl in 1976 was granted a stay of execution by a judge on Monday. On Tuesday, the court decided to delay the scheduled execution.

Virgil Delano Presnell Jr., then 68 years old, kidnapped Lori Ann Smith, then 8 years old, when they were traveling home from primary school in Cobb County 46 years ago.

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When Smith attempted to get away, he sexually assaulted her and then drowned her in a nearby stream. Following the murder, the police found him standing outside of his apartment building. Even though he initially denied any responsibility, he quickly confessed and led them to the location where the dead girl lay.

In this photograph that was made public by the Georgia Department of Corrections, Virgil Presnell can be seen. Virgil Presnell, a Georgia man who is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, May 17, 2022, for the murder of an 8-year-old girl, should not be put to death, according to his attorney. Her client has significant cognitive impairments that likely contributed to his crimes, and he has been subjected to horrific abuse while incarcerated. Both of these factors should be considered when deciding whether or not to spare his life. The GDC, which stands for the Georgia Department of Corrections, oversees The News God.

In the latter part of that year, he was tried for and found guilty of intentional murder, kidnapping, and rape, and he was ultimately sentenced to death for his crimes.