Missouri man to be executed for murder of police officer

WASHINGTON: A man convicted of murder is to be put to death in the midwestern US state of Missouri on Tuesday in an execution that his 19-year-old daughter has been barred from witnessing.

Kevin Johnson, a 37-year-old African American man, was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of a white policeman in a suburb of St Louis.

Johnson is set to be executed by lethal injection at 6pm Central Time (0000 GMT) in a prison in the town of Bonne Terre.

Johnson’s daughter, Corionsa “Khorry” Ramey, sued to be allowed to witness her father’s execution but a federal court turned down her request because she is below the minimum state age of 21.

“I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to be with my dad in his last moments,” Ramey said in a statement.

“My dad is the most important person in my life,” she said. “He has been there for me my whole life, even though he’s been incarcerated.

“He is a good father, the only parent I have left,” Ramey said.

Corene Kendrick, a lawyer for Ramey and the American Civil Liberties Union, condemned the court’s refusal to allow her client to attend the execution.

Johnson was convicted of shooting and killing a white police sergeant on July 5, 2005, two hours after the death of Johnson’s 12-year-old brother from a seizure.

A special prosecutor appointed to look into the case asked for a stay of execution, citing evidence of racial discrimination on the part of the state prosecutor.

But the Missouri Supreme Court rejected the request late Monday.