ATLANTA — Georgia’s parole board on Monday put an execution scheduled for Wednesday on hold, but it was not clear how long that would last.

The order suspending the execution of Stacey Humphreys, signed by State Board of Pardons and Paroles Chair Joyette Holmes, does not provide any reason for the decision. The board also issued a notice saying a clemency hearing for Humphreys scheduled for Tuesday morning is “postponed until further notice.”

Humphreys, 52, was set to receive a lethal injection Wednesday evening at the state prison near Jackson. He was convicted of malice murder and other crimes in the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown.

Humphreys’ lawyers last week filed a petition asking a judge to order two members of the parole board to recuse themselves from considering his clemency petition, saying they had conflicts of interest.

They also asked the judge to order the parole board to halt the clemency proceedings for 90 days to give the governor time to appoint replacement board members and to order the governor to make those appointments. And they asked the judge to keep the parole board from hearing Humphreys’ clemency petition until the two board members have been replaced.

During a hearing Monday afternoon on that petition, a lawyer for the parole board said she did not know how long the suspension would last. The death warrant is valid through noon on Dec. 24, meaning that if the execution doesn’t happen by then the state will have to seek a new warrant.

Kimberly McCoy, one of the board members whose recusal Humphreys’ lawyers is seeking, was a victim advocate with the Cobb County district attorney’s office at the time of Humphreys’ trial and was assigned to work with the victims in the case. The other, Wayne Bennett, was the sheriff in Glynn County, where the trial was moved because of pretrial publicity, and Humphreys’ lawyers argue he oversaw security for the jurors and Humphreys himself during the case.

During the court hearing, it was established that McCoy had agreed Sunday night to abstain from voting on the matter of Humphreys’ clemency application. But it was not clear what that means, particularly whether or not she would be present and would participate during the discussion of the case.

When Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney asked what McCoy understands it to mean if she abstains, McCoy told the judge she would do whatever the court directs her to do. A lawyer for the board said her understanding of abstention is that McCoy could be present during the clemency hearing and could ask questions but would not vote.

Under questioning in court, Bennett testified that he did not believe his connection to Humphreys’ trial would have any bearing on his treatment of the case, that he would consider the evidence and take the appropriate actions. Generally, Bennett said, he was not directly involved in the day to day responsibilities of security for a trial or for the sequestered jurors, and that those duties fell to his staff.

Three members of the parole board must vote for clemency for it to be granted. Lawyers for Humphreys argue that he has a right to have his clemency application heard and voted on by a five-member parole board with no members who have conflicts.

Tina Piper, a lawyer for the state, argued that Humphreys has the right to have his application voted on by a quorum of three, not by five members. She also argued that the state Constitution says the parole board shall be made up of five members, so the governor can’t appoint a temporary member because then there would be six.

Noting that the parole board could lift the suspension at any time, Humphreys’ lawyers urged the judge to issue an order keeping the state from executing him until the judge has a chance to make a decision on the recusal of the parole board members and whether a member who isn’t voting should be temporarily replaced.

Williams and Brown worked as real estate agents in a sales office in a model home for a new subdivision in Powder Springs, a suburb about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of Atlanta. Humphreys entered the sales office around midday on Nov. 3, 2003, and forced them to strip naked and give him their bank PINs before fatally shooting them, according to evidence presented at trial.

Humphreys withdrew more than $3,000 from the women’s bank accounts, according to court filings. He told police after his arrest that he had recently taken out some high-interest payday loans and needed money for a payment on his truck.

A Florida mother says a man she believed to be the owner of a popular riverside restaurant in Georgia yelled at her and ordered her to leave after she breastfed her infant — an encounter she says she recorded on her cellphone that shows a man shouting, “Get on out of here!”

The incident happened at Toccoa Riverside Restaurant in Blue Ridge, according to Aris Kopiec, and has since spread widely online, reigniting scrutiny of the business’ treatment of young families.

Kopiec told FOX Business she was dining with her husband, three young daughters — ages 4, 2 and 4 months — and family friends when her baby began to cry.

She said she latched her infant, covered up immediately, and ensured she was fully concealed from the view of anyone except her own table.

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“The only people who could see me were at my table,” she said. “I covered myself immediately.”

Kopiec said she pulled her shirt back down and was preparing to take her older children outside when she bumped into either a chair or another guest in the crowded enclosed porch area. That, she says, is when the restaurant’s owner stepped toward her.

“He looked at me and said, ‘You can’t do that here,’” Kopiec recalled. “I wasn’t even breastfeeding at that point. I was holding my baby in one arm and helping my kids with the other. He wouldn’t let me get any words out. He kept saying, ‘I have to protect my restaurant. You need to go to a corner.’”

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Kopiec said she and her friend took the older children outside to wait while their spouses paid inside. Kopiec said staff apologized to the men in the group, but not to her.

She said when she returned to gather her belongings, the confrontation escalated. She said she calmly informed the man she claims is the owner that Georgia law explicitly protects breastfeeding in public places.

“I just told him, if he wanted to protect his restaurant, he should follow the law,” she said. “That’s when he lost his mind.”

Kopiec said the man refused to give his name. After her friend mentioned having his photograph, Kopiec began recording.

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In the video she shared with FOX Business, a man standing behind the counter shouts, “Get on out of here!” as Kopiec holds her infant in her arms. 

“It was so aggressive,” she said. “I knew I had to get my kids out of there.”

Kopiec left the restaurant shaken.

“Honestly, I felt like I was in the wrong,” she said. “My instinct was to apologize. But then I reminded myself — women have a legal right to breastfeed. I did nothing wrong.”

Public records and local business listings confirm 67-year-old Tim Richter as the owner of Toccoa Riverside Restaurant. In September, a spotlight from the Fannin County Chamber of Commerce via Facebook also identified Richter as the longtime owner and praised the restaurant’s hospitality, a characterization many online commenters have contrasted sharply with the tone in the new viral video.

In a phone call with FOX Business, a man who identified himself as the restaurant’s owner declined to confirm whether he is the individual shown in the video. He defended the business, saying, “I’ve had the restaurant for thirty-three years. We’ve been breastfeeding for thirty-three years,” and claimed the incident had been “staged for clicks.”

Toccoa Riverside Restaurant did not provide any further comment.

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Georgia law states that a mother may breastfeed “in any location where the mother and baby are otherwise authorized to be,” protecting nursing mothers from being removed or restricted for feeding their children.

Etiquette expert and author Alison Cheperdak told FOX Business the filmed confrontation raises serious concerns. Cheperdak’s etiquette book for everyday situations, “Was it Something I Said?” is set to publish early next spring.

“Breastfeeding is natural and legally protected,” Cheperdak said. “Hospitality is about care, not confrontation, and raising one’s voice at a guest is never acceptable.”

She added that a mother owes no apology for feeding her child.

“A calm explanation is appropriate, but the responsibility is on the restaurant to treat her with respect,” she said. “Even if a restaurant wants a quieter atmosphere, policies should never undermine basic respect for families.”

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Local Atlanta outlets, as well as Food and Wine, reported in 2023 that Toccoa Riverside raised eyebrows for posting an “adult surcharge” for parents deemed “unable to parent,” sparking backlash from families who said they had been reprimanded for their children’s behavior. 

A FOX 5 Atlanta report on the surcharge controversy said parents claimed the owner had scolded their children and allegedly made a 3-year-old cry.

Kopiec said she hopes the attention leads to positive change. “Every nursing mom deserves to feel safe feeding her baby,” she said. “We have a legal right to breastfeed, period.”

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As for the restaurant, she said she has chosen not to hold onto anger. “I’ve chosen to forgive,” she said. “But I would really like to see them welcome breastfeeding moms.”

The video continues to circulate widely online, where commenters are debating breastfeeding protections and the treatment of young mothers and infants in public spaces.