On December 13, 1977, upon the advice of his lawyer, Roach pled guilty to two counts of murder, criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, and robbery.

Roach was executed by electrocution on January 10, 1986, at the Central Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, aged 25.

[citation needed] Pleas for legal reconsideration came from the United Nations,[2] international figures, and former president Jimmy Carter.

This was the first time the United States was found to be in violation of its human rights obligations under the aforementioned Declaration.

[6][7] On October 29, 1977, Roach and accomplices Joseph Carl Shaw and Ronald Eugene Mahaffey spent the morning drinking beer and doing drugs.

Shaw ordered Hartness to lie face down on the ground, to which she initially refused and pled with them to spare her life.

Eventually giving in to their demands, she put her face to the ground, and Roach shot her several times in the head.