Bio

Nelson Earl Mitchell was born in 1962. By 1986, Mitchell was living in or connected to Havana, Florida. He had a prior criminal history that included larceny and theft convictions. Before the murder of Iron City Police Chief Robert Cunningham, Mitchell was traveling with several other people in a vehicle near Iron City, Georgia. The traffic stop that followed became the event that led to Cunningham’s death.

Murder Story

On August 27, 1986, Iron City Police Chief Robert “Bob” Cunningham stopped a vehicle near Iron City, Georgia. Nelson Earl Mitchell was one of the people in the vehicle. Contemporary local reporting states that Cunningham was shot after a struggle developed during the stop.

Cunningham was shot once in the head and died from the wound. He was 51 years old. The case became a capital murder case because Cunningham was a police officer acting in the line of duty, and prosecutors argued that the shooting was committed to avoid or prevent arrest.

Mitchell and Ricky Bernard Ceasar were arrested in St. Petersburg, Florida, three days after the shooting. Their lawyers fought extradition to Georgia for more than a year. They were returned to the Seminole County jail in October 1987 after a grand jury indictment.

Mitchell’s trial was later moved to Early County. In January 1990, an Early County jury found him guilty of murdering Chief Cunningham. The same jury sentenced him to death after finding that Cunningham was acting in the line of duty and that Mitchell had murdered him to avoid or prevent arrest.

During the case, Mitchell testified that Cunningham used racial slurs and that the gun discharged during a struggle. The jury rejected the defense position and imposed the death sentence.

The trial also included an unusual allegation involving the jury foreman’s husband. Defense counsel claimed that the husband had made a throat-cutting gesture from the courtroom, allegedly signaling support for a death sentence. The man denied that meaning and said he had been scratching his neck because of a razor rash. After questioning jurors, the judge denied the defense motion.

Older death-row summaries continued to list Mitchell as a Georgia death-row prisoner for years after the conviction. However, the Spring 2025 Death Row U.S.A. report lists 37 people on Georgia’s death row and does not include Nelson Earl Mitchell. He remains in the custody of the Georgia Department of Corrections.