24 May 2010 :

The state Supreme Court has overturned the May 13, 2008 death sentence of Kirk Douglas Williams, 32, white, a crack-addict who beat his girlfriend to death. The justices, in a 5-2 opinion, ordered a life sentence for Williams for the October 2006 murder of Susan Littrell Dykes, 48. They ruled Walton County Circuit Judge Kelvin Wells erred by rejecting drug impairment as a mitigating factor. A psychologist testified Williams was unable to appreciate the criminality of his actions because he was strung out.