Jimmy Lee Gray

Jimmy Lee Gray (1949 – September 2, 1983) was convicted for the murder of three-year-old Deressa Jean Seales in 1976, after kidnapping and sodomizing her. At the time of this murder, he was free on parole following a conviction in Arizona for the murder of a 16-year-old girl.

He was executed in 1983 by the State of Mississippi by gas chamber. He became the first person to be executed in Mississippi since 1976 when the death penalty was reinstated.

Dan Lohwasser, a reporter for United Press International, was one of the observers who witnessed Gray's execution. Lohwasser's account of Gray's death sparked a controversy, because of its graphic nature. At the time of Gray's execution, the gas chamber used in Mississippi had a vertical iron bar directly behind the inmate's chair. There was no headrest or strap used to restrain Gray's head. As Gray began breathing in the toxic gas, he started thrashing his head around, striking the iron bar repeatedly before he finally lost consciousness. Officials decided to clear the observation room eight minutes after the gas was released, due to the graphic scene. The decision to clear the room was sharply criticized by Dennis Balske, Gray's attorney. "Jimmy Lee Gray died banging his head against a steel pole in the gas chamber while reporters counted his moans (eleven, according to the Associated Press)". It was ultimately revealed that the executioner was drunk during the procedure.

See also

* List of individuals executed in Mississippi
* Capital punishment in the United States

Sources

* [http://www.mdoc.state.ms.us/mississippi_and_the_death_penalt.htm Mississippi and the Death Penalty] . "Mississippi Department of Corrections". Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
* [http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/usexecute.htm U.S. Executions Since 1976] . "The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney". Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEED61739F934A35754C0A965948260 Stay Of Execution Is Continued] . "The New York Times" (1983-07-07). Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
* [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30B17FE395C0C718CDDA00894DB484D81 Killer Of 3-Year-Old Mississippi Girl Executed After Justices Reject Plea] . "The New York Times" (1983-09-02). Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
* Lee, Robert W. [http://www.thenewamerican.com/node/136 Cruel and Unusual Leniency] . "The New American" (1990-08-13). Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
* Radelet, Michael L. [http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=8&did=478 Some Examples of Post-Furman Botched Executions] . "Death Penalty Information Center" (2007-05-24). Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
* "Gray v. Lucas", ussc|463|1237|1983. Retrieved on 2007-11-12.
* [http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=8&did=478#4] . "Some Examples of Post-Furman Botched Executions."
* Cabana, Donald. "Death at Midnight: The Confession of an Executioner. (Northeastern University Press, 1996), p. 7-8.