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| Andrew Lackey |
ATMORE, Alabama – Andrew Lackey was executed by lethal injection at Holman Correctional Facility Thursday evening for the 2005 murder of an 80-year-old World War II veteran he was trying to rob.
Lackey was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m.
Four of Lackey’s family members, including his mother, father, brother and aunt, were in attendance.
A jury convicted Lackey, 29, of the Halloween night murder in 2005 of Charles Newman, 80, at Newman’s Limestone County home. Lackey beat, shot and stabbed Newman. Authorities say he was seeking money.
Lackey became the first inmate executed in Alabama since Christopher T. Johnson of Escambia County received a lethal injection Oct. 20, 2011.
A Limestone County jury convicted Lackey in 2008. He had dropped all appeals and asked for his execution to be scheduled.
Lackey, wearing glasses and with trim, dark hair, was already strapped to a gurney when a curtain opened at 6 p.m. to allow witnesses to see him. He looked around briefly, then laid his head on the pillow.
Holman Warden Gary Hetzell read the execution order and asked Lackey if he had anything to say.
"No sir, I don't," Lackey replied.
Lackey’s mother, father, brother and aunt witnessed the execution in silence, his mother and father holding hands. The four had visited Lackey earlier today, Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said.
A man and two women witnessed the execution on behalf of the victim's family. The Department of Corrections did not have their names.
Shortly after Lackey declined to make a statement, Holman Chaplain Chris Summers approached the gurney, touched Lackey's hand and spoke to him. Lackey nodded and Summers knelt to pray.
The drugs seemed to to take effect within a couple of minutes. Lackey's chest and abdomen convulsed slightly for several minutes. That was followed by what appeared to be several minutes of shallow breathing. He remained still and quiet for several minutes until a corrections officer closed the curtain at 6:15 p.m.
Lackey becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Alabama
and the 56th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1983.
Lackey becomes the 21st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the
USA and the 1341st overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17,
1977. There is 1 more scheduled execution this month; Doughlas Feldman faces
execution next Wed. night in Huntsville, Texas.
