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Missouri is set to carry out its second execution of 2023 next week. Despite his 2004 conviction, Leonard Taylor has insisted he is innocent in the quadruple murder. His attorneys are hoping for a stay of execution.
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Amber McLaughlin, 49, becomes the first openly transgender woman to be executed in the U.S.
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Barely one month after Kevin Johnson, another St. Louis County defendant is scheduled to be executed.
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Kevin Johnson was sentenced to death in 2007 for the slaying of a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer. But an extensive investigation found the state’s handling of death-eligible prosecutions was rife with pervasive racial bias.
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A special prosecutor appointed by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which secured Johnson’s conviction, concluded that “racist prosecution techniques infected Mr. Johnson’s conviction and death sentence.” The Missouri Supreme Court on Monday denied motions to halt his execution, which is scheduled for Tuesday.
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Johnson was sentenced to death in 2007 for the slaying of a Kirkwood, Missouri, police officer. A special prosecutor is urging the court to stay Johnson's execution after an extensive investigation found the state’s handling of death-eligible prosecutions was rife with pervasive racial bias.
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DNA analysis reveals that many people in prison are not guilty. Could Missouri death-row inmate Marcellus Williams be one of them?
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Kevin Johnson is scheduled to be executed by the state of Missouri on Nov. 29. A jury of six white and six Black members deadlocked on whether he was guilty of first-degree murder or a lesser charge. When he went back for a second trial, he ended up with just three Black jurors — and a guilty verdict of first-degree murder.
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NPR spoke with 26 people who were involved with more than 200 executions across the country — including in Missouri. Most said their health suffered and they had little support to help them cope with their unusual jobs.
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Then-Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens postponed the execution of Marcellus Williams five years ago Monday, citing DNA evidence that raised questions about Williams’ guilt. The panel appointed to review the case has made recommendations to Gov. Mike Parson, but there’s been no action.
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The Kansas Supreme Court has upheld the death sentences for the Carr brothers convicted of a series of robberies, assaults and murders in Wichita.
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A pair of St. Louis Democrats sought entry to the Eastern Reception and Diagnostic Center in Bonne Terre under a state law granting lawmakers access "at any time" to state prisons.