Convicted murderer Ledell Lee was executed Thursday in Arkansas, authorities said, one of eight men who were scheduled to die by lethal injection over an 11-day period in April.
The executions were put on hold after a judge issued a restraining order on a key lethal injection drug Wednesday, but Lee was put to death after a flurry of court rulings that ended with the US Supreme Court denying multiple requests for a stay of execution.
Here’s a look at the crimes that earned the men their death sentences.
Don William Davis
Davis was convicted of capital murder in 1992 for the death of Jane Daniel. On the evening of October 12, 1990, Davis burgled several homes in Rogers, Arkansas, including Daniel’s house, taking jewelry, appliances, a television and guns. Daniel’s husband returned later that night from a business trip and discovered several things out of place in his home, including the presence of a Kool cigarette butt in the kitchen. Richard Daniel found his wife shot to death in a storeroom.
Stacey Eugene Johnson
Johnson was convicted of capital murder in 1994 for the death of Carol Heath. She was beaten, strangled and stabbed in the kitchen of her De Queen, Arkansas, apartment on April 2, 1993, while her two young children hid in another room. Years later, her daughter has asked that Johnson serve life in prison rather than be executed, but Heath’s son says the convicted killer should die for his crime.
Jack Harold Jones
Jones was convicted of rape and capital murder in 1996 for the death of Mary Phillips. On June 6, 1995 Phillips, 34, was at an accounting office in Bald Knob, Arkansas, with her daughter Lacy, 11. Jones robbed them at gunpoint and killed Phillips after raping her. He violently beat Lacy and left her for dead. She regained consciousness as police photographers — who thought she was dead — took pictures of the crime scene.
Ledell Lee
Lee was convicted of capital murder in 1995 for the death of Debra Reese. On February 9, 1993, Reese, 26, was found dead in her home in Jacksonville, Arkansas. She had been strangled and beaten with a tire thumper — a small wooden bat her husband had given her for protection. Several of Reese’s neighbors saw Lee near the house and identified him to police.
Lee was executed late Thursday night after the US Supreme Court denied his multiple requests for stays of execution.
Jason McGehee
McGehee was convicted of capital murder in 1997 for the death of 15-year-old John Melbourne. On August 19, 1996, McGehee sent Melbourne to buy shoes with a stolen check. Melbourne was caught, and told police about more stolen checks and property at McGehee’s home. McGehee and his friends tricked Melbourne into coming back to the house, where they beat him to death “to teach him not to ‘snitch.'”
Bruce Earl Ward
Ward was convicted in 1990 of capital murder for the death of Rebecca Doss. On August 11, 1989, her body was found in the men’s restroom at the convenience store where she worked by Little Rock police after one officer noticed she wasn’t at her usual post and began looking for her. Ward was seen in the store’s parking lot and when questioned, told police he had just shared a cup of hot chocolate with Doss and that she gave him the key to the restroom.
Kenneth D. Williams
Williams was convicted of capital murder in 2000 for the death of Cecil Boren. Williams was originally given a life sentence without parole for the killing of University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff cheerleader Dominique Herd in 1998. Williams escaped from prison in 1999 and killed Boren. He was captured after causing a traffic accident that killed another man.
Marcel Wayne Williams
Williams was convicted of capital murder in 1997 for the death of Stacy Errickson. On November 20, 1994, Williams forced Errickson into her own car at gunpoint at a gas station in Jacksonville, Arkansas, and made her withdraw money at several ATMs — transactions that were captured on several security cameras. Her body was found about two weeks later.