Warner Robins man facing death penalty in 1994 bathtub drowning appears in court

PERRY -- Homer Ridley III had his first appearance hearing Thursday in Houston County Superior Court on charges of drowning his next-door neighbor in a bathtub 21 years ago.

Ridley, who faces the possibility of the death penalty if found guilty, currently is serving a life a sentence for a 1988 rape in Warner Robins.

Thursday's hearing was mostly procedural, with Chief Judge Rucker Smith of the Superior Court of the Southwestern Judicial District finding that Ridley was indigent and entitled to representation from the Office of the Georgia Capital Defender.

Smith is presiding over the case since Houston County Superior Court judges have recused themselves.

The hearing recessed briefly before resuming in order for Ridley to meet his capital defender attorneys. In all, Ridley has five attorneys representing him -- including two private attorneys without prior death-penalty-case experience who were hired by his parents.

Smith said from the bench that he initially had some concerns about the age of the case.

"My understanding is that new evidence has come up recently, so that deals with (the) speedy trial (issue)," he said.

In May, a Houston County grand jury indicted Ridley, 46, on one count of malice murder and two counts of felony murder in the slaying of 20-year-old Summer Gleaton.

Gleaton's partially clad body was found in the bathtub of her Terry Street home on Dec. 1, 1994. Her wrists and ankles were bound. Her 6-month-old child was in the home but was not harmed.

Gleaton had been fighting with her boyfriend earlier that day and went to Ridley's residence next door to call for help.

The boyfriend initially was a suspect but has since been cleared. Ridley also was suspected at the time, but police didn't have enough evidence to move forward with charges.

A date for an arraignment hearing in which Ridley is expected to enter a not guilty plea in Gleaton's slaying has not been set.

District Attorney George Hartwig and Jerry Word, who heads the capital defender's office, declined comment on the case Thursday.

Several members of Ridley's family were in the courtroom, including his mother and father from Warner Robins. Ridley was handcuffed and dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit.

Several members of Gleaton's family sat in a front row of the courtroom. Members of both families declined comment.

In 1995, Ridley also was indicted in the 1992 slaying of 19-year-old Ledia Olivera in Hawkinsville. She was found in her home after being raped, strangled and her head bashed against the bathroom sink. Her 5-month-old child was in the home but was unharmed.

In that case, Ridley pleaded not guilty in November 1995. The case was indefinitely suspended in January 1999 at the request of the prosecution over evidentiary problems.

Timothy Vaughn, district attorney for the Oconee Judicial Circuit who sat in on Ridley's hearing Thursday, said the Olivera case remains under review.

Ridley currently is serving his life sentence in Macon State Prison for the Aug. 22, 1988 rape of a woman. Her hands were bound behind her back, and her feet were tied with cords.

She was raped on the floor near her infant son's crib while her other three children slept in the house.

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559, or find her on Twitter@becpurser.

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Warner Robins man facing death penalty in 1994 bathtub drowning appears in court ."