Death Row Woman's Children Make Plea in Video

Georgia faith leaders plan to gather in Atlanta Wednesday morning to pray and ask the state to commute the death sentence of convicted murderer Kelly Renee Gissendaner, Georgia’s only woman on death row.

Leaders from multiple faith communities will gather at 11 a.m. outside the office of the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole in downtown Atlanta.

“The faith leaders will pray for and offer encouragement to members the Board of Pardons and Paroles and those charged with guarding and executing Kelly Gissendaner, Kelly’s children and all affected by the murder of Douglas Gissendaner,” the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta said in a Tuesday media advisory.

Gissendaner, condemned for masterminding the murder of her husband in Gwinnett in 1997, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m., Sept. 29, at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

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If executed, she would be the first woman put to death in Georgia in 70 years, and the 35th inmate overall to die by lethal injection.

Pleas for clemency have become numerous since Friday, when a Gwinnett County judge signed the execution order for Gissendaner.

Two of Gissendaner’s children -- Kayla and Dakota Gissendaner -- released an emotional video during the weekend in which they spoke of why they believe their mother’s life should be spared. Both children said their mother grow as a person in her more than 15 years in prison.

“We’ve lost our dad. We can’t imagine losing our mom too.” Kayla Gissendaner said in the video

This is the third execution date for Gissendaner, who had two previously dates postponed at the last minute -- in February due to a winter storm, and in March, when authorities found a cloudy appearance in the drug that was to be used for the lethal injection.

Gissendaner, of Auburn, Ga., was convicted of plotting the murder of Douglas near Dacula in 1997.

She was found guilty of convincing her boyfriend Gregory Owen to murder Douglas Gissendaner on Feb. 7, 1997, then went to lengths to deny her involvement, prosecutors said. Owen, who was sentenced to life in prison, avoided the death penalty by helping prosecutors in the case against Gissendaner.

“She has accepted full responsibility and expressed deep remorse for her involvement in the murder of her husband,” the media advisory from the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta stated. “She did not physically commit the murder and was not present when Doug Gissendaner was killed. Gregory Owen, who Kelly Gissendaner persuaded to kill her husband, pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence. He could be eligible for parole in 7 years.”

More than 20 clergy members are expected to attend Wednesday’s prayer meeting, including Episcopal Bishop Robert C. Wright; Catholic Archdiocese Deacon Richard Tolcher; Reverend Cassandra Henderson, Ebenezer Baptist Church; Reverend Daniel Vestal, pastor of Peachtree Baptist Church and director of the Baugh Center for Baptist Leadership at Mercer University.