The first execution of Donald Trump’s final days in office has gone ahead after last-minute clemency pleas were rejected by the US Supreme Court.
Brandon
Bernard, 40, received a lethal injection in Indiana on Thursday after telling
the couple he killed his was sorry.
Several
high-profile figures, including reality TV star Kim Kardashian West, had
appealed to Mr Trump to commute Mr Bernard's sentence to life in prison.
Before Mr
Bernard's execution, Ms Kardashian West tweeted that she had spoken to him
earlier: "Hardest call I've ever had.”
She added:
“Brandon, selfless as always, was focused on his family and making sure they
are ok. He told me not to cry because our fight isn't over."
He was
convicted of murder in 1999 when he was a teenager, and is the youngest
offender to be executed by the federal government in nearly 70 years.
It marks the
ninth federal execution of the year, with four more federal executions, planned
for the weeks before President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.
The case of
Mr Bernard was a rare execution of a person who was in his teens when his crime
was committed.
Mr Bernard,
40, directed his last words to the family of the couple he killed.
"I'm
sorry," he said, lifting his head and looking at the witness-room windows.
"That's
the only words that I can say that completely capture how I feel now and how I
felt that day."
Just before
the execution was scheduled, Mr Bernard's lawyers filed papers with the Supreme
Court seeking to halt the execution.
But about two
and a half hours after the execution was scheduled, the Supreme Court denied
the request, clearing the way for the execution to proceed.
#BrandonBernard should not be executed:
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 10, 2020
1. He was 18 at the time.
2. He was not the shooter.
3. The prosecutor and 5 of the jurors now support clemency.
4. He’s spent decades in prison w/out a write up, helping at risk youth.
5. There’s bipartisan support for his commutation. pic.twitter.com/18GugdtuOs
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