Kelly Gissendaner was scheduled to die at 7 p.m. Monday night, and would have become the first woman to receive the death penalty in Georgia in 70 years.
A crowd of supporters gathered outside the prison in Jackson where Gissendaner was being held. Kara Tragesser, Gissendaner's friend and former fellow inmate, joined the group. As the minutes passed, Tragesser said one of her friend's attorneys came out of the prison with Gissendaner on the phone. The group sang "This Little Light Of Mine," and Tragesser remembers Gissendaner singing along. It started raining, but the crowd refused to budge. At 7 p.m., they bowed their heads in prayer.
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"I take the Georgia Department of Correction at its word that there was a problem with the drug which was to be used for the injection," said Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners, a Christian organization focused on social justice. "However, I also believe in providence, and it seems to me that the fact that Kelly's execution has now been delayed twice -- first by weather, then last night by the injection appearing 'cloudy' -- could be God's way of giving everyone who is trying to save Kelly's life more time to do so."
Gissendaner's story has gripped religious leaders and death penalty opponents around the country. At the heart of the case is a woman who supporters say has become convinced of her guilt and experienced a radical spiritual transformation while on death row.
In 1998, a jury found Gissendaner guilty of plotting the death of her husband, Douglas Gissendaner. She was sentenced to death, while the man who committed the murder, her boyfriend Gregory Owen, accepted a life sentence with the possibility of parole. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles recently denied Gissendaner's clemency. Her lawyers argue that the death penalty is unfair in this instance -- especially since Owen will be up for parole in eight years.
While in prison, Gissendaner completed a theology studies program, even becoming pen pals with the renowned theologian Jurgen Moltmann. She also acted as a spiritual adviser to fellow inmates.
"I hope that Kelly's story will show people across the country that personal transformation does happen," Wallis said, "and the death penalty is wrong because it denies fellow human beings that opportunity to repent and be transformed."