Georgia put William Earl Lynd to death...

Georgia put William Earl Lynd to death, ending a 7-month hiatus on executions in the United States following an unofficial moratorium steaming from an appeal against the use of lethal injection. Lynd, 53, white, died by lethal injection at 7:51 p.m.. As he was being executed, a dozen death penalty opponents stood in quiet protest about a mile from the sprawling Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison just outside of Jackson. And just a few yards away, 2 women waited in support of his execution and to show support for the victim's family. Prison spokesman said Lynd spent much of his last day visiting with a sister and a girlfriend. He was "somber," and requested a mild sedative to calm him in the hours before going to his death. Lynd's brother and sister-in-law witnessed the execution while his mother and other relatives waited elsewhere in the prison. Lynd said only "no" when asked if he had a final statement. He also declined a prayer. Lynd was sentenced to death for killing his live-in girlfriend, Ginger Moore, on Dec. 22, 1988. Lynd's execution is the 1st since the U.S. Supreme Court on April 16 (see) rejected a challenge to the cocktail of 3 drugs used in most U.S. executions. A nationwide pause in executions had been in effect since shortly after the court said on Sept. 25 (see) it would hear an appeal by 2 death row inmates in Kentucky against the use of the lethal drugs. Lynd was the 41st man Georgia has executed since 1983, the 19th by lethal injection. Lynd's execution is expected to be followed soon by several in Georgia and other states. There is one scheduled in Mississippi for May 21 and in Virginia for May 27, and more planned throughout the summer in Texas, Louisiana, Virginia and Oklahoma. Lynd becomes the 1,100th condemned inmate to be put to death in the USA since the death penalty was re-legalized on July 2, 1976.