Andrew Grant DeYoung

On July 21, 2011 the state of Georgia executed thirty-seven year old Andrew DeYoung. He was convicted in 1995 for the 1993 murders of his parents, Gary and Kathryn and his fourteen year old sister, Sarah. Only his sixteen year old brother, Nathan escaped the home that night. The case itself seemed pretty open and shut. Aside from making headlines because of the brutality of the crime the execution also made headlines. It was the first execution in over twenty years to be video taped, although it has not apparently been officially viewed as it was immediately put under seal of the court. The execution was videoed because there had been claims that the lethal injection process “caused unnecessary pain and suffering.” This is not surprising as this has always been, and continues to be, an argument by those opposed to capital punishment. It was later said that the execution was carried out without any issues.

It seems unlikely that when the DeYoung family went to bed on June 13, 1993 in their Cobb County Georgia home that they knew what horror awaited them. At about two the following morning the oldest DeYoung child, Andrew, who was a nineteen year old college student, and his friend David Hagerty cut the phone wires to the home and then entered. The plan was to murder the four occupants and set the home on fire. If all went as planned Andrew would be the recipient of about $480,000. He had intended to use this money for a “business venture.”

The two young men entered the home and while Andrew went to the master bedroom to murder his parents, David Hagerty was to apparently kill Andrew's siblings, starting with Nathan. As Andrew began stabbing his forty-one year old mother, Kathryn as she slept his father was awakened by her screams. Andrew then moved on to Gary. They struggled a bit before Gary too was stabbed to death. Fourteen year old Sarah had also heard the commotion and had apparently headed towards her parents' bedroom. She would later be found in the hallway, just outside their room. Like her parents she had been stabbed multiple times before dying. In the meantime it appears that Hagerty got cold feet about the killing which gave sixteen year old Nathan time to escape the home through his window.

Nathan made his way to a neighbors home. The police were apparently called and the neighbor grabbed his gun and he and Nathan returned to the DeYoung home. Instead of setting fire to the home as planned Andrew and David Hagerty apparently spent time searching for Nathan. While they were doing so the neighbor saw and recognized Andrew pacing throughout the area in his search. At trial Nathan would say he did not see his brothers face but that the “figure” he saw was built and moved like his brother.

Andrew and Hagerty would eventually leave the DeYoung home in separate directions. They would meet up back at David Hagerty's home and at some point made their way to the DeYoung family church. The two young men had dug a hole there previously and had placed items they needed to commit the crime. Now they were burying evidence apparently. Andrew would return to the home a little after ten that morning as his home was surrounded by police officers. He would tell the officers that he had been at Hagerty's home all night the previous night. His calm demeanor and his apparent lack of grief heightened law enforcement officials. They were also curious about injuries they saw on his neck and forehead.

David Hagerty would apparently confess fairly quickly. He would lead authorities to the clothing they had warn and to the things they had buried on the church property. Hagerty would eventually receive a life sentence. He had four years added in 1996 after he had briefly escaped prison. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections he is currently still an inmate within their system.

On October 13, 1995 Andrew DeYoung would be convicted in the murders and given a sentence of death. Among his last words at his execution were “I'm sorry for everyone I've hurt.” It was argued that while he had shown little remorse in the beginning that had changed over time. It seems that his family had little sympathy for him and had encouraged his sentence.