USA - South Carolina. Joseph M.L. Gardner, 38, black, has been executed

Joseph M.L. Gardner, 38, black, has been executed. Gardner was 1 of 5 men convicted in the 1992 kidnapping, rape and slaying of 25-year-old Melissa "Missi" McLauchlin. Police said Gardner and his co-defendants decided to kill a white woman as retribution for slavery. He was the only one sentenced to death. Gardner becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in South Carolina and the 40th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1985. Gardner becomes the 37th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1136th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. There are no more executions scheduled this year in the US.