A man who killed an 8-year-old girl in 1984, has been executed in the state of Arizona.
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Now, although abolished in many countries, the death penalty is still retained in some parts of the world.
These countries include China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and of course, the United States of America.
The death penalty has been a part of the U.S. justice system for centuries…
And the penalty, which is often referred to as capital punishment, has been in action since approximately 1608… Yep, it’s really that old.
But it’s not currently legal in every state.
And as the years have gone on, it’s become more and more of a controversial and taboo subject.
Many U.S. states have now abolished the death penalty for a number of reasons…
Including the risk factors of executing an innocent person, the fact it doesn’t prevent future crimes, and the fact that it is both discriminatory and can be used politically, as per Amnesty.
Organizations, such as Amnesty, have been fighting for decades to have the death penalty abolished entirely. They have been trying to expose and hold to account governments that continue to use the punishment.
Many find the death penalty totally barbaric.
When questioned, it’s difficult to justify the state killing its citizens.
Campaigners argued that many of those executed over the last few years were killed despite suffering from serious mental and physical illnesses…
Which should have rendered the death penalty an unconstitutional punishment.
And some states have made huge progress in this field.
History was made by Virginia being the first-ever southern state to abolish the death penalty. Other states which have abolished capital punishment include Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and Washington.
But there are still many states that seems to be sticking with their decision to execute including Oklahoma.
Oklahoma enacted the death penalty law in 1977, forty-five years ago.
The method to carry out the executions that take place in the state is lethal injection.
But lethal injections in Oklahoma have been known to go wrong.
Clayton Lockett, who was convicted in 2000 of rape, kidnapping, and murder, suffered a heart attack during his lethal injection, after being given an untested assertion of drugs, which lead him to convulsing and vomiting, dying forty-three minutes later.
And in 2015, Oklahoma actually used the wrong drug during an execution, stopping the heart of convicted r*pist and murderer of an eleven-month-old girl, Charles Warner, as per Slate News, who reported that he called out: “My body is on fire.”
The first to go badly since 2015 was John Marion Grant, who killed a cafeteria worker in 1998…
He was also executed by injection, vomiting, and convulsing also before he died last year.
Arizona is another state that also still uses the death penalty.
And in May of this year, the state executed the first death row inmate in 8 years.
Clarence Dixon died after receiving the lethal injection, the Daily Mail reports.
Dixon was an inmate on death row after he was convicted of r*ping and murdering Deana Bowdoin, a college student, back in 1985.
The outlet reports that Dixon, who was also a student at the time, strangled, r*ped and stabbed Bowdoin.
Dixon’s lawyers had tried to argue that his execution should be postponed due to his mental health, however the argument was rejected and the execution took place.
However, before Dixon received the lethal injection, he said a few ironic final words…
The outlet reports that prior to being executed, Dixon tried to argue his innocence before saying “let’s do this.”
Dixon’s final words were reportedly: “The Arizona Supreme Court should follow the laws.”
“They denied my appeals and petitions to change the outcome of this trial. I do and will always proclaim innocence.”
“Now, let’s do this s**t.”
And now, just a month later, Arizona has executed another man…
This time, Frank Atwood, who murdered an 8-year-old girl in 1984.
Atwood was put to death yesterday.
A witness has said that the execution went smoothly.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said: “We will continue to seek justice for every victim,” as per NTD.
Vicki Lynne Hoskinson was an 8-year-old girl who disappeared while riding her bike to a mailbox attempting to deliver a birthday card.
Atwood, her abductor, and murderer, was traced both by witnesses and evidence. But, it took a long 7 months to find the remains of the young girl, who was located in a desert twenty miles away.
Atwood was convicted of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to death in 1987, 35 years away from his execution.
According to the news outlet, 111 prisoners in Arizona are on death row, and twenty-two of the death row prisoners have no appeals left to make.
“I pray the Lord will have mercy on all of us and that the Lord will have mercy on me,” Atwood said in his final words.
The girl’s mother spoke out, too.
“Today marks final justice for our daughter, Vicki Lynne. Our family has waited for 37 years, eight months, and 22 days for this day to come,” said Debbie Carlson.
The mother added: “Her royal blue eyes reflected an old soul of wisdom, and her freckled nose was unique and we are blessed to see it in our grandchildren today. Vicki was a feisty little one that always kept you on your toes and will forever be known as Dennis the Menace, giggling all the way.”
“The state of Arizona executed Frank Atwood despite lingering doubts about his guilt,” Atwood’s lawyer, Joseph Perkovich, said.
“The case against Frank was purely circumstantial and significant evidence pointed to another suspect,” he finished.
Frank Atwood died at approximately 10.16 am.