JARRATT, Va. (AP) — Virginia has executed a man convicted of killing two young girls and their parents during a New Year’s Day home invasion more than 11 years ago.
Authorities say 39-year-old Ricky Gray was pronounced dead at 9:42 p.m. Wednesday following a lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia.
Asked if he had any last words, he responded, “Nope.”
Gray was sentenced to death for the slayings of 9-year-old Stella Harvey and her 4-year-old sister Ruby. Gray also was convicted of killing their parents, Bryan and Kathryn Harvey. The family was attacked when their front door was open as they prepared to hold a holiday party.
All were found in their burning home in Richmond, bound, beaten, stabbed and with their throats cut.
Gray had requested that the 9 p.m. execution be put on hold while he pursued a challenge to Virginia’s planned use of lethal injection drugs from a compounding pharmacy. Gray’s attorneys said the scheduled execution would be the first time a state uses compounded midazolam or compounded potassium chloride in a lethal injection, and that the drugs would cause a painful death.
The U.S. Supreme Court had rejected a defense request to halt Wednesday’s scheduled execution. The high court issued a one-sentence order denying the last-minute request. The emailed statement gave no explanation for the decision, adding the request was presented to the chief justice.
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