Melbert Ford

{{Short description|American murderer (1960–2010)}}

{{Infobox criminal

| image_name =

| name = Melbert Ford

| image_size =

| image_caption =

| birth_name = Melbert Ray Ford Jr.

| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1960|12|9}}

| birth_place = Austell, Georgia, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|2010|6|9|1960|12|9}}

| death_place = Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, Jackson, Georgia, U.S.

| alias =

| conviction = Murder (2 counts)
Armed robbery

| conviction_penalty = Death (October 23, 1986)

| conviction_status = Executed

| occupation = Grocery store employee

| death_cause = Execution by lethal injection

}}

Melbert Ray Ford Jr. (December 9, 1960 – June 9, 2010) was an American convicted double murderer who, in 2010, was executed by lethal injection by the U.S. State of Georgia after being convicted of murder in 1987.{{cite web|url=http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/ford1214.htm|title=Melbert Ray Ford Jr. #1214|work=Clark County Prosecutor|access-date=May 16, 2022}}

Ford was born in Austell, Georgia.{{cite news|last=Cowles|first=Anne|title=Austell man guilty, given death penalty|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101951115/austell-man-guilty-given-death-penalty/|newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution|date=October 26, 1986|page=104|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=May 20, 2022}} He was convicted in 1987 of killing his former girlfriend, Martha Chapman Matich, and Lisa Chapman, her 11-year-old niece,{{cite web |url=http://www.covnews.com/news/article/12534/ |title=Execution rescheduled for Melbert Ray Ford |publisher=Covnews.com |date=2010-05-21 |accessdate=2012-08-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613002243/http://www.covnews.com/news/article/12534/ |archive-date=2010-06-13 |url-status=dead }} in a March 6, 1986 robbery at Chapman's Grocery store in Georgia.{{cite news|last=Moss|first=Michael|title=Two men charged with killings at rural grocery|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101951131/two-men-charged-with-killings-at-rural/|newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution|date=March 8, 1986|pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101951131/two-men-charged-with-killings-at-rural/ 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101951126/killings/ 12]|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=May 20, 2022}}{{cite news|last=Moss|first=Michael|title=Shopkeepers riled over rash of robberies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101951149/shopkeepers-riled-over-rash-of-robberies/|newspaper=The Atlanta Constitution|date=March 9, 1986|pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101951149/shopkeepers-riled-over-rash-of-robberies/ 41], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/101951155/store/ 53]|via=Newspapers.com|access-date=May 20, 2022}} Ford had told a friend that he "was going to blow her brains out," and devised a plan to rob the store, saying he intended to kidnap Matich, take her into the woods, make her beg and then shoot her in the forehead.