Arkansas Carries Out First Execution Since 2005

Arkansas carried out its first execution in more than a decade after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down an inmate’s plea to stay his lethal injection. Fifty-one-year-old Ledell Lee was pronounced dead at 11:56 p.m Thursday. Lee, sentenced to death for the 1993 killing of his neighbor, was one of eight inmates scheduled to die this month as authorities rush to use a lethal-injection drug that expires on April 30. The state has come under fire for its plans to carry out back-to-back executions amid concerns over its lethal-injection protocols. As Lee was put to death Thursday, opponents of the death penalty gathered in front of Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s mansion to condemn the move. Two more inmates are due to be executed Monday, and another on April 27. One other inmate has been granted a stay.