Hall County, GA: Top Court: Man who killed his ex-girlfriend in front of her child deserves death Continue reading on Examiner.com Top Court: Man who killed his ex-girlfriend in front of her child deserves death

A man who shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and her friend at point-blank range should be sentenced to death, the state’s highest court ruled Monday.

A lower court threw out Mr. Scotty Garnell Morrow death sentence earlier this year, citing ineffective counsel during the sentencing phase of the trial.

But the Georgia Supreme Court overruled the lower court’s decision.

Mr. Morrow was convicted in Hall County of the 1994 murders of his girlfriend and her friend, according to a report released by the high court. The court's report released the following details of the women's deaths:

Mr. Morrow had been dating Ms. Barbara Ann Young for six months when she made him move out of the house after he beat, slapped, dragged and raped her.

On Dec. 29, 1994, he called her but she told him to leave her alone. Mr. Morrow then drove to Ms. Young's home, entered without permission, and found Ms. Young in the kitchen with her friends, Ms. Tonya Woods and Ms. LaToya Horne.

Two of Ms. Young’s children were also there.

Ms Woods told Mr. Morrow her friend wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Mr. Morrow then shot Ms. Woods in the abdomen with a 9-millimeter pistol, paralyzing her from the waist down. He shot Ms. Horne in the arm.

Ms. Young fled to her bedroom where Mr. Morrow caught up with her and beat her in the head and face. She tried to flee, but Mr. Morrow grabbed her by the hair and shot her point-blank in the head, killing her.

From his hiding place in a nearby bedroom, Ms. Young’s 5-year-old son witnessed her murder.

Mr. Morrow returned to the kitchen, placed the muzzle of the pistol an inch from Ms. Woods' chin and killed her with a shot to the head. Seeing Ms. Horne move on the floor, he shot her two more times, in the face and arm, then cut the telephone line and fled.

Despite her injuries, Ms. Horne managed to run to a neighbor's house. Mr. Morrow later confessed to the shootings and admitted at trial that he “wanted [Woods] to shut up.”

In 1999, Mr. Morrow was convicted of malice murder and other offenses. The jury found five aggravating circumstances that accompanied the murders, and he was sentenced to death.

Later Mr. Morrow filed a petition for “writ of habeas corpus” – a civil proceeding that allows an already convicted prisoner another chance to challenge his case in the county where he’s incarcerated.

In February 2011, the habeas court vacated Mr. Morrow’s death sentence, but not his convictions.

The habeas judge’s reason: Mr. Morrow’s trial attorneys should have presented mitigating evidence that Mr. Morrow had been raped by a cousin as a young boy; endured psychological torture and beatings at the hands of his father and later his mother’s boyfriend. They also should have retained the testimony of a crime scene expert who could have testified that the forensic evidence supported Mr. Morrow’s contention that his crime was spontaneous, disorganized and in reaction to substantial provocation.

But the high court reversed the habeas court’s decision.

The high court’s reason: The attorneys put Mr. Morrow’s own mother on the stand to testify that as a child, Mr. Morrow had attempted to protect her from her husband’s severe physical abuse, which included stomping her and causing her to miscarry; Other witnesses, including Mr. Morrow’s ex-wife and his ex-wife’s husband, testified to his good character and said he was a “perfect father.”

“In light of the record, “we conclude that it is simply not correct that trial counsel failed to investigate Morrow’s background,” the opinion said.