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Execution set for Georgia man who kidnapped, raped and murdered ex-girlfriend

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Execution set for Georgia man who kidnapped, raped and murdered ex-girlfriend

A man who killed his former girlfriend three decades ago is set to be put to death in March in what would be Georgia’s first execution in more than four years.

A judge on Thursday signed the order for the execution of Willie James Pye, who was convicted of murder and other crimes in the November 1993 killing of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough. The execution is scheduled for March 20 at 7 p.m., after the judge set an execution window between noon that day and noon on March 27.

Pye, 59, would be the first person executed in Georgia since January 2020. Georgia executions are carried out at the state prison in Jackson by injection of the sedative pentobarbital.

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Because of the coronavirus pandemic, executions were effectively halted for a certain group of people on Georgia’s death row by an agreement between their attorneys and the state. Pye’s lawyer cited that agreement when asking a court Wednesday to prohibit the state from seeking an execution warrant against him for the time being.

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Pye and Yarbrough had dated on and off, but at the time of her death Yarbrough was living with another man, according to court filings. Pye, Chester Adams and a 15-year-old boy had planned to rob that man and bought a handgun before heading to a party in Griffin, prosecutors have said.

The trio left the party around midnight and went to the house where Yarbrough lived, finding her alone with her baby. They forced their way into the house, stole a ring and necklace from Yarbrough and took her with them when they left, leaving the baby alone, prosecutors have said.

Willie James Pye is seen in this Georgia Department of Corrections photo. (Georgia Department of Corrections via AP)

They drove to a motel, where they took turns raping Yarbrough and then left the motel with her in the teenager’s car, prosecutors have said. They turned onto a dirt road and Pye ordered Yarbrough out of the car, made her lie face down and shot her three times, according to court filings.

Yarbrough’s body was found on Nov. 17, 1993, a few hours after she was killed. Pye, Adams and the teenager were quickly arrested. Pye and Adams denied knowing anything about Yarbrough’s death, but the teenager confessed and implicated the other two.

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The teenager reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and was the main witness at Pye’s trial. A jury in June 1996 found Pye guilty of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, armed robbery, rape and burglary, and sentenced him to death.

Pye’s lawyers had long argued in courts that he should be resentenced because his trial lawyer didn’t adequately prepare for the sentencing phase of his trial. Pye’s lawyers argued that his trial attorney failed to do a sufficient investigation into his “life, background, physical and psychiatric health” to prevent mitigating evidence to the jury during sentencing.

They presented evidence that his childhood was characterized by poverty, abuse and neglect. They also argued that he suffered from frontal-lobe brain damage, potentially caused by fetal alcohol syndrome, that harmed his ability to plan and control his impulses.

A federal judge rejected those claims, but a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Pye’s lawyers in April 2021. But then the case was reheard by the full federal appeals court, which overturned the panel ruling in October 2022.

Adams, now 55, pleaded guilty in April 1997 to charges of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, armed robbery, rape and aggravated sodomy. He got five consecutive life prison sentences and remains behind bars.

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When Georgia courts were under a judicial emergency because of the coronavirus pandemic, lawyers for a group of people on death row entered into an agreement with the office of state Attorney General Chris Carr to temporarily suspend executions and establish conditions under which they could resume.

The agreement said that, with one named exception, executions wouldn’t resume until six months after three conditions had been met: the expiration of the state’s COVID-19 judicial emergency, the resumption of normal visitation at state prisons and the availability of a COVID vaccine “to all members of the public.”

The agreement applied to death-sentenced prisoners whose requests to have their petitions reheard were denied by the 11th Circuit while the judicial emergency was in place. That agreement is currently the subject of litigation in Fulton County Superior Court with executions for the prisoners in question on hold for now.

Pye’s lawyer argued in a court filing Wednesday that he qualifies as a third-party beneficiary of that agreement even though the 11th Circuit’s final rejection of his request for a rehearing came in March 2023. He asked the court to allow him to join the pending litigation, which would protect him from execution for the time being.

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Lawyers for the state responded in a filing Thursday that Pye was not covered by the agreement and should not be allowed to join the pending litigation.

The judge who signed the execution order also wrote that Pye is not part of the agreement and that it, therefore, does not prevent his execution from proceeding.

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Southeast

Father claims daughter accused of sex crimes with Florida middle schoolers is the ‘real victim’

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Father claims daughter accused of sex crimes with Florida middle schoolers is the ‘real victim’

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A Florida woman who posed as a teenager to sexually abuse five middle school boys is “mentally defective” and is the real victim of the alleged sex crimes, her father said. 

Alyssa Ann Zinger, 25, dealt with various mental disorders, including ADHD, ADD, OCD, Tourette’s syndrome and anorexia while growing up in a “good Christian home” in suburban Tampa, her father, Josh Zinger, told the California Post. 

“She had a lot of problems growing up. Our daughter has been to 10 to 12 psychologists and psychiatrists throughout her life,” Zinger said. 

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Alyssa Zinger, 23, was out on pretrial release from a November arrest when she was arrested again last week. (Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office)

He noted that Zinger once scored a 72 on an intelligence quotient test, well below the assessment’s 100-point average.  

“She’s defective — mentally defective. And do you know what that means under the law? If somebody is mentally defective and has sex with somebody, no matter their age, it’s illegal to have sex with a mentally defective person,” Zinger said. 

“In all actuality, she is the victim.” 

Zinger was arrested in 2023 after allegedly posing as a 14-year-old teen on social media and having dozens of sexual encounters with a boy between the ages of 12 and 15.

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The boy, who Josh Zinger called “the little bastard,” seduced his daughter and took her virginity, he told the newspaper.  

“That boy found her [social media] account, found her dancing like a 13-year-old on it and said, ‘Hey, girl, I’ll Uber you to my $5,000-a-month apartment — come on and hang out’,” the dad said.

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Alyssa Zinger, pictured in court, is accused of communicating with teenage boys via TikTok and Snapchat while claiming to be a 14-year-old homeschooled student. (FOX 13 Tampa Bay)

“And then when she got there, she never said she wasn’t 14 to him, but he knew her real age, and he knew she was mentally unstable,” Josh claimed. 

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He claimed that, over several months, the boy had Zinger over at his apartment and introduced her to other school-age boys, four of whom would become Zinger’s other alleged victims. 

“The boy who harbored her in his house for five months, he’s the one who introduced her to his friends, and they all were like, ‘Hey, this girl is 14,’ wink, wink, high-five, high-five, ‘Your turn, bud,’” Josh Zinger said.

“There will be no plea deal. There will be no sex offender registry. She’ll get time served and adios.” 

Alyssa Zinger was arrested in April 2024 after investigators allegedly identified the four other middle school victims.

Alyssa Zinger allegedly communicated with teenage boys via social media.  (Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

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Zinger is slated to go to trial in May. 

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She remains in jail on charges of lewd or lascivious battery, lewd or lascivious molestation, possession of child pornography, in-state transmission of child pornography by an electronic device and sexual cyber harassment, all felonies. 

In addition, other inmates have treated her poorly, her father said, adding “s— in her food all the time — fingernails, hair, objects, plastic — because whoever was making her food knew who she was, and they knew that that food was going to a pedophile,” he said. 

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ICE lodges detainer for illegal immigrant accused of sexually assaulting teen

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ICE lodges detainer for illegal immigrant accused of sexually assaulting teen

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged an arrest detainer Friday against a criminal illegal alien from Egypt accused of raping a 16-year-old girl on New Year’s Eve while she was asleep in her bed in Tennessee.

Mena Mohsen Farez Nmn Awad, 31, allegedly broke into an apartment in Nashville and began sexually assaulting the victim while she was asleep in her bed next to her nephew, WSMV-TV reported.

The girl allegedly found Awad in her bed with a handgun tucked into his waistband and was sexually assaulted, the outlet reported. 

She later broke free, grabbed her nephew and told Awad she would not tell anyone about the incident if he left.

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ICE filed an arrest detainer for Mena Mohsen Farez Nmn Awad, an illegal immigrant from Egypt accused of sexually assaulting a sleeping teenage girl, authorities said. (Metro Nashville Police Department )

According to DHS, Awad has a history of violence since entering the U.S. in 2017 through the Diversity Visa program.

He was previously charged with domestic violence, intimidation, possession of a weapon, violation of a court order and vehicle theft, the agency said.

“Horrendous immigration policies allowed this monster into our country and made victims of children and families,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “This child rapist was allowed into our country by the Diversity Lottery program. Secretary Noem paused the diversity lottery to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.”

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Mena Mohsen Farez Nmn Awad is accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl, with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodging an arrest detainer, according to federal authorities. (Metro Nashville Police Department )

McLaughlin added that ICE’s arrest detainer would “ensure he is not released onto our streets to victimize more children.”

According to DHS, the victim called her sister, who then contacted authorities after Awad left the residence.

Awad was later apprehended by police in Louisville, Kentucky, on Jan. 16, and was extradited to Tennessee the following week.

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ICE filed an arrest detainer for Mena Mohsen Farez Nmn Awad following allegations he sexually assaulted a sleeping teenage girl in Nashville, authorities said. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

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He was charged with aggravated rape with a weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated burglary, DHS said.

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Virginia Democrats blasted for threatening historic military college VMI with funding threat over DEI concerns

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Virginia Democrats blasted for threatening historic military college VMI with funding threat over DEI concerns

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Virginia Democrats in the state’s House of Delegates introduced a resolution on Tuesday that would establish a task force to investigate the Virginia Military Institute and determine if the historic military college should continue to receive funding. 

The move is the latest of Virginia Democrats’ efforts to reinvigorate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy in the state after much of the DEI mandates and policies were revoked after President Donald Trump was elected in 2024.

“This takes away from VMI, takes away from its mission,” Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., told Fox News Digital. “I think that it’s harmful to the Commonwealth of Virginia, harmful to VMI as an institution, harmful to all the incredible military leaders and community leaders that have come out of VMI.”

“It’s just reprehensible that they would even go down this road,” Wittman added. “But, it seems to be what’s happening in Richmond.”

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Republican lawmakers are blaming Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger and renewed DEI efforts for what they describe as an ideological push that could jeopardize the nation’s oldest state-supported military college. (Win McNamee/Getty Images; Greg Nelson /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

Wittman, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, represents the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula and parts of the Peninsula of Virginia. He attended Virginia Tech University and was a member of the Corps of Cadets, which he says had a friendly rivalry with VMI. 

VMI was founded in 1839, making it the oldest public senior military college in the country. VMI has had several notable graduates, including sitting Ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, and Gen. John “Dan” Caine, Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz attended VMI. (Adam Gray/Getty)

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Wittman was not the only member of Congress who voiced concerns about the potential Democratic-driven demise of the nation’s first state-funded military college.

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Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, also serves on the House Armed Services Committee and pointed to newly elected Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger as the culprit of the threat to VMI.

“Less than a month in office as governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger has shown a commitment to turning the commonwealth into California,” Fallon told Fox News Digital. “The left’s renewed focus on VMI is not intended to benefit our military.

“Instead, it’s yet another avenue to tear down an institution that has developed exceptional leaders and statesmen who have made significant contributions to our nation, such as George C. Marshall, Mike Waltz, and the current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, whom I had the privilege of serving with in the Air Force,” Fallon added.

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Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger speaks during inaugural ceremonies at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026.  (Steve Helber/AP)

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In 2021, then-Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered a state-sanctioned investigation into VMI’s DEI structure. An investigation which specifically looked for racism and sexism. The audit came in President Joe Biden’s first full year in the White House, when DEI policies were running rampant at universities and corporations across the country. 

One of Spanberger’s first acts since being elected was appointing Northam to VMI’s Board of Visitors.

“To appoint disgraced former Governor Ralph Northam, a man of poor moral character, to the Board of Visitors at VMI is an insult to our nation’s oldest state-supported military school and the leaders it produces,” Fallon told Fox News Digital. “He has no business overseeing VMI, and leftists like Spanberger can’t help themselves from advancing their radical, far-left agenda.”

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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered an investigation into VMI in 2021.

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Spanberger has received sharp criticism for many of the liberal policies she has implemented in her short time in office, including an executive saying local and state law enforcement are no longer required to cooperate with ICE, a reversal from a previous order issued by former Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

“Screw any and all of you who lied to low-information voters and sold Abigail Spanberger as some kind of moderate,” Meghan McCain, the daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, posted to social media. “She’s been in office like 6 hours and is already trying to turn Virginia into Minneapolis.”

George W. Bush speaking to cadets at the Virginia Military Institution in 2002.  (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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Should the legislation introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates make it to Spanberger’s desk, it is possible that the military institution will not survive if state funding is revoked. 

“There is no logic, there is no logical reason why you would do this,” Wittman told Fox. “If you have issues with VMI, many of those have played out in years past, the institution has done everything that the General Assembly has asked for them to do.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Spanberger, but did not receive a response in time for publication. 

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

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