Ernest Lee Johnson is EXECUTED in Missouri for slaughtering three despite the Pope’s clemency plea for disabled killer
MURDERER Ernest Lee Johnson was executed in a Missouri prison today, after the Supreme Court denied a stay of execution in a last-minute attempt from his attorneys to gain clemency.
Johnson, 61, was pronounced dead by lethal injection of pentobarbital at 6:11pm at the state prison in Bonne Terre.
In 2019 and again in 2021, Johnson requested a different means of execution, requesting death by gas hypoxia or firing squad.
Due to damage from a brain tumor, Johnson and his medical team worried that the chemicals in a lethal injection could trigger incredibly painful seizures.
The tumor, and its removal, also resulted in damage to Johnson’s brain, which the inmate’s legal team used to argue against his execution.
His attorneys argued that his death would constitute as “cruel and unusual punishment’ under the eighth amendment.
His team argued that the pain from potential seizures would be inhumane, and that his intellectual disability should make him ineligible for execution.
FINAL ATTEMPT AT CLEMENCY DENIED
However, the Supreme Court declined to issue him a stay of execution.
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“The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Kavanaugh and by him referred to the Court is denied,” wrote the court.
Johnson’s attorneys made a last-ditch attempt to gain clemency for Johnson on Tuesday, after Missouri Governor Mike Parson declined to stop the execution and reassess Johnson’s sentencing.
“‘The state is prepared to deliver justice and carry out the lawful sentence Mr. Johnson received in accordance with the Missouri Supreme Court’s order,’” Governor Parson said in a press release from his office.
The press release also said “Mr. Johnson’s claim that he is not competent to be executed has been reviewed and rejected by a jury and the courts six different times, including a unanimous decision by the Missouri Supreme Court.”
JOHNSON’S FINAL WORDS
Johnson’s last statement was provided for the media, hand-written on an official form with some misspellings and mark-outs left intact.
“I am sorry and have remorse for what I do,” Johnson wrote.
“I want to say that I love my family and friends. I am thankful of all that my lawer has done for me.
“They made me feel love as if I was family to them. I love them all. For all the people that has prayed for me I thank them.
“From the bottom of my. I love the Lord with all my heart and soul. If I am executed I no were I am going to heaven. Because I ask him to forgive me.”
He signed the statement, “God everyone whit respect Ernest L Johnson.”
Johnson’s death is the fourth death row killing since Joe Biden took office.
Johnson was sentenced to death after being convicted of killing three people during a robbery in 1994 at a convenience store in Columbia.
“Mr. Johnson was tried and convicted for the brutal murder of three innocent victims during a robbery in 1994,” Missouri Governor Mike Parson said in a statement.
“The evidence showed Mr. Johnson went to great lengths to plan and conceal his crime. Three juries have reviewed Mr. Johnson’s case and recommended a sentence of death.”
In February 1994, Johnson walked into a general store near his home in northeast Columbia and bludgeoned, stabbed, and shot three employees.
The victims were identified as Mary Bratcher, 46; Mable Scruggs, 57; and Fred Jones, 58.
Johnson proceeded to hide their bodies in a walk-in cooler and rob the store for drug money.
The state of Missouri continued with Johnson’s execution despite calls from anti-death penalty activists to halt it.
THE POPE ASKS PARSON FOR MERCY
Pope Francis joined the fight in halting Johnson’s execution, sending a letter to Governor Parson requesting clemency for the convicted killer.
In the letter, Pope Francis did not deny that “grave crimes such as his deserve grave punishment” but called on Parson to consider “the simple fact of Mr. Johnson’s humanity and the sacredness of all human life.”
Johnson was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and lost about 20 percent of his brain tissue during a 2008 surgery to remove a benign tumor.
According to Johnson’s attorney, Jeremy Weis, testing and IQ indicated he has the intellectual capacity of a child.
On Friday, Missouri Democratic Reps Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver called for the execution to be halted, writing in a letter to the Governor, “Mr. Johnson’s execution would be a grave act of injustice.”
Despite the Biden administration’s order to halt federal executions, the president has remained silent on the issue.
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