MISSOURI (USA): LEON VINCENT TAYLOR EXECUTED

Leon Vincent Taylor, 56, Black, was executed in Missouri.
Taylor shot worker Robert Newton to death in front of Newton's 8-year-old stepdaughter during a gas station robbery on April 14, 1994. Taylor tried to kill the girl, too, but the gun jammed.
Once the state started injecting 5 grams of pentobarbital, Taylor's chest heaved for several seconds then stopped. His jaw went slack and he displayed no other movement for the rest of the process. The drug killed Taylor in about 8 minutes. Taylor's execution went off without any visible hitches or complications.
Department of Corrections spokesman Mike O'Connell said Taylor later turned down the sedative Valium and the sedative midazolam. He becomes the 9th inmate to be put to death this year in Missouri and the 79th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1989. Taylor becomes the 33rd inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1392nd overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. As many as 4 more executions may be carried out in the US in December. Last year, there were 39 executions in the USA.