PARCHMAN, Miss. (AP) - Gerald James Holland (left), convicted for raping and killing a 15-year-old girl, has been put to death by lethal injection at the state penitentiary. Holland was officially declared dead at 6:14 p.m. Thursday.It was the second execution in Mississippi in two days.
Earlier Thursday, Gov. Haley Barbour refused to grant clemency and Holland's final appeal was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Holland apologized to the family of his victims in his final statement before being executed.
“I want you to know I am sorry,” said Holland, who blamed his actions on alcohol, despair and his temper.
Earlier in the day, Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said Holland had accepted his fate.
The victim’s family showed little emotion during the execution.
Holland's attorney Steven Orlansky visited with him at 3 p.m. and shared with him that the governor and U.S. Supreme Court had rejected his requests to avoid being put to death.
Epps said Holland has requested a sedative before being executed and he was given a Valium.
Orlansky was Holland's only visitor today and he made no telephone calls.
Holland was convicted of raping and killing 15-year-old Krystal King in 1986. At 72, he was the state's oldest death-row inmate.
Paul Everette Woodward died Wednesday for his 1987 conviction in the rape-slaying of a 24-year-old woman.
The last back-to-back executions occurred in 1961, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Source: AP, May 20, 2010
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