According to the Georgia Supreme Court's Web page, the justices Tuesday denied a motion from Mr. Williams' attorney to reconsider a Nov. 30 order. In that order, the state's high court rejected Mr. Williams' request to appeal issues further, said Russ Willard, of the state's attorney general's office.

Mr. Williams, now 33, was sentenced to death by a Richmond County Superior Court jury in August 1986 for murdering 16-year-old Aleta Bunch.

Three months earlier, Mr. Williams, 17, had kidnapped the Beech Island girl from the Regency Mall parking lot. He took her to a wooded area, investigators say, where he robbed and raped her before shooting four .22-caliber bullets into her head and chest.

"I'm really anxious about it. It would be such a relief," said Aleta's mother, Carolyn Bunch "If I could just get a little peace of mind."

In August 2000, Mr. Williams was to die in the state's electric chair. The Georgia Supreme Court issued a last-minute stay in his and other death row cases in late 2000 and early 2001 as the justices wrestled with the constitutionality of the electric chair.

As soon as the court found the chair was an unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment, executions by lethal injections began last October. Four men, including Augusta native Jose High, have been executed since then, and the fifth execution is set for Jan. 24.

Mr. Williams' counsel said Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court will be petitioned for permission to appeal the most recent action. Among the issues raised most recently were those of executing a mentally ill man rendered sane only by forced medication, and executing a person for a crime committed as a juvenile.

District Attorney Danny Craig said Wednesday he would prefer that Mr. Williams' attorneys file the last possible appeals now rather than waiting until a new execution date has been set. One will be set by the judge who presided over Mr. Williams' trial 16 years ago - Chief Judge William M. Fleming Jr. - as soon as the Supreme Court returns the jurisdiction of the case to Richmond County Superior Court.

If Mr. Williams' case is rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, his attorneys can renew an unresolved clemency request with the state Board of Pardons and Paroles that was delayed in August 2000 when the state Supreme Court issued a stay of execution for Mr. Williams.

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or shodson@augustachronicle.com.