Mississippi executes Rodney Gray

Rodney Gray

PARCHMAN, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi man convicted of the shotgun slaying of an elderly woman whose body was left near a rural bridge has been executed.

Corrections officials said 38-year-old Rodney Gray was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. CDT Tuesday at the state penitentiary at Parchman.

Gray was sentenced to death in 1996 for killing 79-year-old Grace Blackwell of Louin, whose body was found Aug. 15, 1994, at the end of a Newton County bridge. Blackwell died from a shotgun wound to the head.

Blackwell was last seen after cashing a $1,200 check at the woman's bank and her car was later found behind a service station. In court records, prosecutors said Blackwell's blood was found on Gray's clothing.

Gray was visited by his mother Tuesday. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his last appeal.

Source: AP, May 17, 2011

MDOC: Gray resigned to die but says he's innocent

PARCHMAN — As his execution draws nearer this afternoon, death row inmate Rodney Gray is still proclaiming his innocence.

Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps told the media at a 4:45 p.m. briefing that Gray is maintaining he is not guilty of any of the crimes that led to his death sentence.

But the lead prosecutor in the case has said the evidence against Gray in the 1994 kidnapping, rape, robbery and murder of 79-year-old Grace Blackwell in Newton County left no doubt about his guilt.

Resigned to his fate, Gray, 38, has remained talkative and had made at least two phone calls today, one to a friend and one to his spiritual adviser, Epps said. His mother visited him from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Two of his attorneys also have visited him.

MDOC Chaplain Willie Bays was visiting with the condemned man late today.

Gray doesn't want any family member to view his execution. He has asked Bays to witness his execution after his own spiritual adviser didn't make the trip.

For his last meal, Gray made no special request and was given the same food as other inmates, but Epps said Gray ate only one bite of the chicken fried steak.

“He said he has made peace with the Lord,” Epps said of conversations he had with Gray today. “He has been reading the Bible.”

Source: ClarionLedger.com, May 17, 2011
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