Johnson was convicted of killing three convenience store workers in Columbia during a robbery in 1994.

BONNE TERRE - Ernest Lee Johnson, 61, was executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.

Johnson died from an injection of pentobarbital at the state prison in Bonne Terre.

A press briefing was held after the execution. Officials said Johnson was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m.

Jim Salter of the Associated Press, who served as a media witness, said Johnson's breathing became labored but there were no visible signs of distress.

An official said Johnson was offered a sedative but refused it. 

His last meal was two double bacon cheeseburgers, onion rings, two large strawberry milkshakes and a large pizza. 

Johnson left a written statement for his family and friends.

Final appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request from Johnson's lawyers for a stay of execution just before 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Johnson's lawyer, Jeremy Weis, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to issue a stay of execution on Monday. Weis stated that Missouri is set to execute a person who has met the criteria for intellectual disability by multiple experts.

The appeal also argued that the courts who rejected Johnson's previous appeals have "failed to understand and apply current medical standards in assessing intellectual disability." 

The state said Monday the SCOTUS' intervention is "not warranted Tuesday, just like it wasn't warranted when the Court rejected the same claim from Johnson in 2015, or when the lower courts rejected the claim the previous four times Johnson has raised it."

In another brief filed Tuesday, Weis replied "This is not a close case."

"Ernest Johnson is intellectually disabled. To permit the State of Missouri to execute Mr. Johnson undermines this Court’s authority, and precedent and would represent a fundamental miscarriage of justice," Weis wrote.

Johnson was convicted of killing three convenience store workers in Columbia during a robbery in 1994.

History of the case

Johnson was convicted of killing three convenience store workers in Columbia during a robbery on Feb. 12, 1994.

Johnson attacked and killed three workers at Casey's General Store, Mary Bratcher, 46, Mabel Scruggs, 57, and Fred Jones, 58, with a claw hammer. He then hid their bodies in the bathroom and in a cooler.

Police later found bloody shoes that matched shoeprints in the convenience store and a bag with a couple hundred dollars and store receipts in Johnson's house. 

Appeals to the death penalty

A Boone County grand jury convicted Johnson on three counts of first degree murder in 1995. He was sentenced to death.

Weis said Johnson has taken multiple IQ tests and other exams that have shown Johnson has the intellectual capacity of a child.

Weis said executing Johnson would violate the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits the execution of intellectually disabled people, which the U.S. Supreme Court issued in 2002. 

Weis also says Johnson was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. In 2008, he lost about 20% of his brain tissue to the removal of a benign tumor, according to the Associated Press. 

The Missouri Supreme Court overturned his sentencing in 1998 because his attorneys "did not offer testimony about his drug addiction and unstable childhood." It was then reversed in 1999 by a Clay County jury.

The Clay County sentencing then was overturned after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling that intellectually disabled people cannot be executed in 2002.

Then again in 2007, a Pettis County jury sentenced Johnson to death by lethal injection on Nov. 3, 2015. 

Just hours before his set execution, Johnson appealed to SCOTUS to spare his life because he said the execution drug could trigger severe pain due to his remnants of a brain tumor and damage caused by surgery to remove it.

SCOTUS granted a stay of execution and said the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals needed to reconsider part of the case. 

In March 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed Johnson's appeal, saying that Johnson had "ample time to prepare an amended complaint."

Alternative methods

Johnson's lawyers have suggested the state use nitrogen gas or firing squad as an alternative method of execution. Both alternatives were denied.

A 2019 ruling by the Supreme Court said Missouri could decline the use of nitrogen gas because of a lack of proven effectiveness.

That ruling does, however, allow plaintiffs to seek out alternative death penalty methods used in other states, "even if they are not authorized in the state seeking to carry out the relevant execution." For that reason, Johnson tried to amend his original appeal to include a request for execution by firing squad. 

Denied clemency

Governor Mike Parson declined to grant clemency to Johnson on Monday, Oct. 4, despite requests from Pope Francis and two members of the Missouri congress, Representatives Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver II.

“The state is prepared to deliver justice and carry out the lawful sentence Mr. Johnson received in accordance with the Missouri Supreme Court's order,” Parson said.

Last week, former Missouri governor Bob Holden also urged Gov. Parson to grant clemency. He noted that he supports capital punishment in principle, but that he concurs with advocates who say Johnson is intellectually and developmentally disabled.

Protests held Tuesday

Multiple protests are scheduled for Tuesday throughout the state.

Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is holding demonstrations in Jefferson City, Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City and Bonne Terre.

The Mid-Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation is holding two "Vigils for Life" Tuesday. One was held outside the Governor's office at noon and the other will be held in front of the Boone County Courthouse at 5 p.m.

The execution would be the seventh to occur in the U.S. this year.

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