After 35 years justice for a murdered and raped retired school teacher in North Rome has been served.  On Friday, 54 year-old Timothy Tyrone Foster pleaded guilty to the heinous crimes that were committed back in 1987.

The reason for the long period was the U.S. Supreme Court overturned his conviction five years ago after then Floyd County district attorney Steve Lanier struck black jurors from the trial based on their race.  

Foster was sentenced to death in 1987 for the murder of Queen Madge White.  He then spent years appealing the conviction before having it overturned in 2016.

After his conviction was overturned, Foster was brought to the Floyd County Jail in March 2017. In 2018, the state expressed its intent to again seek the death penalty and the process to try him for the crimes.

However, this week saw Foster plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence rather than getting the death sentence.

Foster’s attorneys argued that Foster, who was 18 at the time of the crimes, suffered from intellectual disabilities and his brain was not functioning as an adult at the time.

A civil jury ruled 20 years ago that Foster did not suffer from a mental disability that would prohibit the state from imposing the death sentence, and Judge Sparks concurred.