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Execution date set for second man convicted of 1996 Baldwin County murder

Over 20 years ago, Marion Wilson Jr. was convicted of murdering Donovan Parks.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — A second man is set to be executed after being convicted of killing an off duty state parole officer in 1996. This comes after the first man was put to death over a year ago for the murder of Donovan Parks.

RELATED: Execution date set for man convicted of Baldwin County murder

Marion Wilson Jr. is set to be executed by lethal injection later this month. His accomplice in the murder of Donovan Parks, Robert Earl Butts was put to death last summer and the second execution will close a dark chapter in Milledgeville's history.

In 1996, The Baldwin County Sheriff's Office said Parks offered Wilson and Butts a ride from a Walmart in Milledgeville. Parks took the pair to Felton Street, where they shot him in the back of the head and left him for dead.

Wilson and Butts drove away in Parks' Acura and later torched it.

A year ago, Parks former classmate, Thomas Collins spoke to us about the gruesome murder.

"If I could go to the prison and give them a dose of truth syndrome, I would ask him, 'Why did you kill Donovan? Why didn't you break into a businesses and steal something? Why did you have to take a man's life?" Collins said.

After trials and several appeals, Butts and Wilson were convicted and sentenced to execution. Butts was put to death in May of 2018.

RELATED: UPDATE: Georgia executes killer of off-duty prison guard

Now, Wilson faces lethal injection. The execution is set to take place between June 20 and June 27th at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson at 7 p.m.

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