Despite calls from lawmakers, anti-death penalty activists and the pope for mercy, 61-year-old Ernest Lee Johnson is set to be executed on Tuesday evening.
In 1995, Johnson was convicted of first-degree murder for killing three convenience store workers during a closing-time robbery a year earlier in Columbia. He shot and attacked
At Johnson’s girlfriend’s house, officers found a bag with $443, coin wrappers, partially burned checks and shoes matching bloody prints from inside the store. Johnson admitted to killing the three workers and will be the 91st person Missouri has executed since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.
On Friday, U.S. Reps. Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver sent Parson a plea to stay Johnson’s execution, urging the governor to recognize the particular cruelty of executing an intellectually disabled man, and asked him to“Mr. Johnson’s execution would be a grave act of injustice. Killing those who lack the intellectual ability to conform their behavior to the law is morally and legally unconscionable,” the members of Congress wrote.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Who Is Ernest Johnson? Advocates call for clemency ahead of Missouri inmate's executionAdvocates are urging Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to halt Johnson's execution, citing the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on executing the intellectually disabled.
Read more »
Oklahoma death row inmate John Grant seeks clemency ahead of executionGrant's execution would be Oklahoma's first since capital punishment was paused in 2015 after a series of botched and flawed executions.
Read more »
Ex-US Rep. Todd Akin, sunk by ‘legitimate rape’ remark, diesFormer U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, a conservative Missouri Republican whose comment that women's bodies have a way of avoiding pregnancies in cases of “legitimate rape” sunk his bid for the U.S. Senate, has died. He was 74.
Read more »
Missouri fires DL coach Jethro Franklin after 5 gamesMizzou has fired defensive line coach Jethro Franklin, head coach Eliah Drinkwitz announced Sunday.
Read more »
Vaccine 'not a limit on freedom' - KloppLiverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he does not understand why some people refuse the coronavirus vaccine.
Read more »