Bio 

Emmanuel Fitzgerald Hammond was born on June 6, 1965. Public records and court documents identify him as a Georgia defendant who was later convicted in Fulton County for the murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery of Julie Love.

Court records state that Hammond had a history of violent crimes before the murder of Julie Love. During the penalty phase of his trial, prosecutors introduced evidence that Hammond had previously kidnapped young women and robbed or attempted to rob them using bank cards at automated teller machines. In one prior attack, he stabbed a woman multiple times and left her for dead in a wooded trash pile.

The state also presented evidence of juvenile offenses and other violent conduct. These prior acts were used by prosecutors to support their argument for the death penalty. Hammond’s criminal history became a major part of the sentencing phase of the case.

By 1988, Hammond was connected to Janice Weldon, described in court records as his intimate companion, and Maurice Porter, his cousin. Both would later become key witnesses in the investigation and trial.

Murder Story

Julie Love was last seen by her fiancé on the morning of July 11, 1988. Later that evening, he tried calling her but received no answer. He left messages, and when she still did not respond, he began contacting her friends and family. After learning that no one had heard from her, he became concerned.

Love’s abandoned car was later found out of gas about half a mile from her fiancé’s home. Police opened a formal investigation, but the case remained unsolved for more than a year.

According to trial testimony, Hammond, Janice Weldon, and Maurice Porter were driving around Atlanta in Hammond’s maroon Oldsmobile Cutlass during the evening of July 11, 1988. They saw Julie Love walking along Howell Mill Road after her car had run out of gas. Hammond first asked if she wanted a ride, but she refused and pointed toward a nearby house as if she lived there.

After driving away, Hammond saw Love return to the road. He directed Porter to turn around and drive past her again. When they saw her stalled car farther down the road, Hammond told Weldon to drive back to Love. Hammond then got out of the car with a sawed-off shotgun, grabbed Love, and forced her into the vehicle.

The group drove to Grove Park Elementary School, which Hammond had attended. Love’s purse was searched, and Hammond ordered Weldon and Porter to take her bank cards and try to withdraw money using a PIN she had provided. Hammond stayed behind with Love and the shotgun.

Weldon and Porter returned without money because the number did not work and the bank machines kept the cards. Hammond became angry and struck Love repeatedly with the shotgun. Porter then raped her.

Love pleaded not to be hurt and said she had more cards at home. The group drove to her apartment complex, but they did not enter because a security guard was present. Weldon then demanded to be taken home and was dropped off at her apartment.

Hammond and Porter returned with Love to the Grove Park area. Hammond took clothes hangers and a sheet from the trunk of the car. Love’s feet and hands were tied, and a sheet was wrapped around her. Hammond then wrapped a coat hanger around her neck and, with Porter’s help, tried to strangle her. Love struggled and broke free, but Hammond restrained her again.

Hammond later took Love into a wooded area while Porter stayed near the car. Porter heard a gunshot. Hammond returned alone with blood on his face. He later told Weldon that he shot Love with the sawed-off shotgun and left her body in a trash pile.

The investigation changed in August 1989 after Weldon filed assault charges against Hammond, alleging that he had tried to strangle her. While Hammond was jailed on that charge, Weldon told police that Hammond and Porter were responsible for Julie Love’s disappearance.

Police recorded conversations between Weldon and Porter. Porter made incriminating statements and later confessed. He led investigators to skeletal remains, which were identified as Julie Love’s remains.

Investigators also recovered the sawed-off shotgun from Michael Dominick, who said Hammond had sold him the weapon after Love’s murder. Love’s earrings were also recovered after Weldon pawned them for $140.

Hammond was indicted in Fulton County, Georgia, on September 12, 1989, for malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping, and armed robbery. His trial took place from February 19 to March 8, 1990. On March 7, 1990, he was convicted on all counts. On March 8, 1990, the jury recommended a death sentence for the malice murder conviction.

Maurice Porter pleaded guilty to murder and rape and was sentenced to life in prison. Janice Weldon received immunity in exchange for her testimony.

Hammond appealed his conviction and sentence. In 1990, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected most of his claims but remanded the case so he could raise ineffective assistance of counsel claims. After further hearings, the trial court denied relief on March 14, 1994. In 1995, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and death sentence.

Hammond continued to pursue state and federal habeas appeals. His state habeas petition was denied, and federal courts also rejected his claims. The Eleventh Circuit denied relief in 2009, and the United States Supreme Court declined to review the case in January 2011.

On January 13, 2011, the Superior Court of Fulton County set the execution window. The Georgia Department of Corrections scheduled the execution for January 25, 2011, at 7:00 p.m.

Hammond’s final appeals focused partly on Georgia’s supply of sodium thiopental, one of the drugs then used in lethal injections. Courts rejected the final challenges.

Emmanuel Fitzgerald Hammond was executed by lethal injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia, on January 25, 2011. He was pronounced dead at 11:39 p.m. He did not make a final statement.