‘I’M READY, FATHER’

Feds Execute Seventh Death Row Inmate Since July, More Than Double the Past 56 Years

Christopher Vialva is the first Black inmate put to death since federal executions resumed in July.

The federal government executed Christopher Vialva on Thursday, the seventh prisoner put to death this year and the first Black inmate executed since federal executions resumed in July. Vialva, 40, was convicted of shooting a couple, Todd and Stacie Bagley, and burning them alive in the trunk of their car in 1999 in Killeen, Texas. With his last words, Vialva asked God for forgiveness: “Father … heal their hearts with grace and love. I’m ready, Father.” Georgia Bagley, the mother of Todd Bagley, said of Vialva, “I believe when someone deliberately takes the life of another, they suffer the consequences for their actions.” Federal law enforcement had executed only three prisoners in the past 56 years, but in this year alone, federal officers have put seven prisoners to death. Vialva died in federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. His lawyer, Susan Otto, said Vialva’s race played a role in his sentence, as the jury that convicted him was comprised of 11 white jurors and one Black one.