Yokamon Hearn executed in Texas

Remember Frank Meziere.

Yokamon Hearn, 33-years-old, has been executed for the murder of Plano stockbroker Frank Meziere.

Hearn’s case drew international attention in the past few weeks for two reasons; first, he was the first inmate in Texas to receive the new single drug Pentobarbital, instead of the regular three-drug cocktail. There was also intense criticism over the fact that Hearn was considered mentally disabled and that in the United States it is unconstitutional to do so. His case was not convincing as the Supreme Court later today ruled against looking into his case.

Hearn was sentenced to death for the 1996 murder of Frank Meziere. Meziere was innocently cleaning his black convertible Mustang when Hearn and friends forced Meziere into his car and drove him to an industrial park in south Dallas. There they shot him 10 times in the head.

A member of Mr. Meziere’s family contacted Crime Ticker today and although they did not want to officially comment on the execution, they recognize that it is not only a difficult day for them but also for the family of Yokamon Hearn.

Asked if he has any final words, Hearn replied, “I’d like to tell my family that I love y’all and I wish y’all well. I’m ready.”

Hearn appeared calm as the single drug entered his system at 7:12pm, he pronounced dead at 7:37pm EST.

Warren Hill’s execution delayed 5 days, Georgia to use new one-drug lethal injection

Warren Hill’s execution has been delayed for 5 days while the state of Georgia changes its execution protocol from the standard 3-drug mixture to the single Pentobarbital drug that was recently adopted by Texas.

Yokamon Hearn, also scheduled to be executed tomorrow, will be Texas’ first execution using Pentobarbital.

Hill’s new execution date is scheduled for July 23rd.

Clemency appeal for Georgia inmate denied, execution to proceed

Warren Hill and Yokamon Hearn both face execution on Wednesday.

Unless the United States Supreme Court intervenes, Warren Lee Hill Jr. will be executed Wednesday in Georgia.

The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole denied clemency to Hill as well a request by the defense team for a 90 day stay, their primary argument was that Hill’s IQ is only 70 which puts him into the category of mentally disabled, which in the Unites States is not constitutional according to a 2002 ruling by the Supreme Court. Georgia has a very high standard to proven mental disabilities, and defendants are required to prove it “beyond a reasonable doubt”.

Hill was serving a life sentence for  murdering his girlfriend, stabbing her 11 times in 1986 when he killed his prison cellmate, Joseph Handspike, with a board spiked with nails while the man was sleeping.

Texas switches to pentobarbital for upcoming execution

Pentobarbital is replacing the traditional 3-drug protocol in lethal injections.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced Tuesday that Texas will discontinue its use of the 3-drug cocktail in its lethal injections and instead switch over to the new single drug pentobarbital.

The first inmate to be administered the new protocol will be Yokamon Hearn, whose execution is scheduled for July 18th.

While switching to pentobarbital is the trend among states that continue to use the death penalty, Texas did so out of necessity as the state’s supply of pancuronium bromide, one of the key ingredients in the traditional 3-drug protocol, had expired and the TDCJ was unable to obtain more of the drug.

Ohio was the first state to convert to pentobarbital as a single drug in executions in March of 2011.