US state carries out first execution in 12 years

Washington, April 21 (IANS) Death row inmate Ledell Lee has been executed in Arkansas, the state's first in 12 years, shortly after the US Supreme Court denied emergency motions in his case, the media reported on Friday.

Lee, 51, was administered the lethal injection at 11.44 p.m., on Thursday night and was pronounced dead 12 minutes later, CNN reported.

According to The New York Times, Lee received injections of three drugs: midazolam, to render him unconscious; vecuronium bromide, to halt his breathing; and potassium chloride, to stop his heart.

He requested the Holy Communion as his last meal, and declined to make a final statement, the Arkansas Department of Correction said.

The last execution carried out in Arkansas' was in 2005.

The state had planned to execute eight inmates over 10 days starting April 17, but four of the men have received stays for various reasons

Lee was convicted in 1995 in the murder of Debra Reese, 26, two years prior, reports CNN.

Reese was found dead in her home in Jacksonville, where she had been strangled and beaten with a small wooden bat her husband gave her for protection.

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