Edward Lee Busby Jr. was pronounced dead after a lethal injection for the murder, in 2004, of Laura Lee Crane, a 77-year-old retired university professor.
The state of Texas has just completed its 600th execution since 1982, despite calls from the condemned man’s lawyers to revoke the decision due to his intellectual disability. Edward Lee Busby Jr. was declared dead after a lethal injection for the murder of Laura Lee Crane, a retired university professor who was 77 years old.
In his final statement, Edward Lee Busby apologized to his family and to Laura Lee Crane’s family and asked for forgiveness, according to a transcript provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. “Ms. Crane was a lovely woman, I never meant to harm her. I am truly sorry,” he said according to the document.
Edward Lee Busby’s lawyers tried to prevent the execution, arguing that he had an intellectual disability and therefore was ineligible for the death penalty, which would represent a “cruel and unusual punishment” in this case, banned by the Constitution.
The Supreme Court of the United States, dominated by conservative judges, rejected the appeal, overturning the suspension of the execution imposed by a lower court. This execution brings the total to 12 since the beginning of the year in the United States.
Edward Lee Busby became the 600th person to be executed in Texas since 1982, when the southern state resumed the practice of capital punishment. Texas is the state in the United States that carries out the most death sentences, accounting for a third of executions in the country.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 American states. Three others, California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, have imposed a moratorium on executions at the governor’s decision.
