Arkansas last night carried out the state's first execution since 2005.
51-year-old Ledell Lee was executed after the Supreme Court rejected his request to stay his lethal injection. Lee had been on death row since 1995 when he was convicted for beating a woman to death inside her home. Lee was one of eight death row inmates scheduled to be executed in April, some of whom received a stay. One inmate was even scheduled to die last night along with Lee but that execution was halted.
The state has been aggressively pushing the executions this month because its supply of the controversial lethal injection drugs is set to expire on April 30th. Once the drugs expire, all planned executions will be put on hold. (Washington Post)