Missouri executes man for 2005 killing
A Missouri man convicted of ambushing and killing a police officer he blamed over the death of his younger brother has been executed.
Kevin Johnson, 37, died after an injection of pentobarbital at the state prison in Bonne Terre.
It was the state's second execution this year and the 17th in America overall. Two more executions are scheduled in Missouri for the first few weeks of 2023.
Johnson's lawyers did not deny that he killed St Louis area officer William Mcentee in 2005, but contended he was sentenced to death in part because he is black.
However the courts, including the US supreme court and Republican governor Mike Parson declined to stop the execution.
Johnson declined to make a final statement before the lethal drug was administered.
In a first for modern executions in Missouri, Johnson was not in the execution room alone. His spiritual adviser, the Rev Darryl Gray, sat at his side.