AG wants to set an execution date if a man is convicted of murdering two MSU students

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) – Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch says it's time for the state Supreme Court to deny Willie Jerome Manning's request for a rehearing and set an execution date.

Manning was sentenced to death in 1994 for the murders of two Mississippi State University students.

His lawyers recently asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to rehear his request for post-conviction relief, saying several witnesses had recanted their testimony regarding Manning's guilt.

However, Fitch says Manning's lawyers have already presented that evidence and the judge has already rejected it.

“The court did not 'misunderstand' or 'overlook' any questions of law or fact. “If Manning’s arguments are properly rejected,” the attorney general wrote. “This court should (1) deny Manning’s motion… and (2) grant the State’s motion to dismiss [an] Execution date.”

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