USA - Missouri. Michael Worthington, 43, White, was executed

Michael Worthington, 43, White, was executed, making him the 1st person to be executed since an Arizona execution went awry last month. Worthingtonwas executed at 12:01 a.m. at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre, according to reports, and was pronounced dead at 12:11 a.m. The latest execution by lethal injection comes amid questions raised over the procedure following a series of botched executions across the country. Worthington's attorney urged the Supreme Court to call off his execution by citing the lengthy execution of Joseph Wood in Arizona and 2 other botched executions - 1 each in Oklahoma and another in Ohio - in recent months. The attorney also reportedly raised doubts about the drugs used during in the process in Missouri. Worthington was sentenced to death in 1998 after pleading guilty for the September 1995 rape and murder of Melinda Mindy Griffin, while DNA tests and other stolen items that were in the possession of the man also reportedly proved his guilt. Worthington becomes the 7th inmate to be put to death this year in Missouri, the 77th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1989, the 27th inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1386th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 18, 1977.