PARCHMAN — Joseph Daniel Burns (pictured) has been executed, becoming the third inmate put to death in Mississippi since May.
Burns, 42, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. today at the state Penitentiary at Parchman.
He was convicted in 1996 of killing Tupelo motel manager Mike McBride, 57, during a robbery.
About 4:45 p.m. MDOC attorney Leonard Vincent said the high court had asked that Burns' execution be delayed.
"The court asked if we would hold up the execution until they could resolve the issue," Vincent said. "(The attorney general's office is) still very optimistic that there will be an execution tonight."
MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps had said earlier in the day that Burns appeared to have accepted that he would be executed tonight.
"I feel like - based on our conversation - that he is ready to go," he said.
Burns was convicted in 1996 of the robbery and murder of Mike McBride, 57.
McBride's beaten and stabbed body was found in his residence, adjacent to the Town House Motel's main office.
Burns visited with his three daughters, his mother and his sister, as well as the State Penitentiary chaplain James Whisnant in the hours leading up to his scheduled execution. Burns' mother and his sister witnessed his execution.
He made no request for a last meal but ate turkey and roast beef sandwiches in the afternoon.
About a dozen protesters gathered outside the gates of Parchman in opposition to the death penalty.
Earlier today, the state Supreme County denied Burns' request for a stay, and Gov. Haley Barbour denied a petition for clemency.
Burns becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Mississippi and the 13th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1983.
Burns becomes the 33rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1221st overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.
Source: clarionledger.com, Rick Halperin, July 21, 2010
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