By lethal injection… Texas carries out the 600th death sentence since 1982

The death of Edward Lee Busbee Jr. was announced after he was executed by lethal injection, following his conviction for the murder of retired university professor Laura Lee Crane, aged 77, in 2004.

Execution in the American state of Texas

In his final speech, Busbee offered an apology to his family and the victim’s family, asking for forgiveness, according to a statement. Posted by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, he said: "Mrs. Crane was a wonderful woman, and I never meant to hurt her, and I’m truly sorry"

Busby’s lawyers had sought to halt the execution of the sentence, stressing that their client suffers from a mental disability that makes him legally ineligible for the death penalty, considering that the implementation of the sentence against him is a punishment. "Cruel and unusual" It is prohibited by the US Constitution.

However, the US Supreme Court, which includes a majority of conservative judges, rejected the appeal, and overturned a previous lower court decision suspending the execution of the sentence.

Executions in America

With the implementation of the ruling, the number of executions carried out in the United States since the beginning of this year rose to 12 cases, while Busby became the 600th person executed in the state of Texas since the resumption of the death penalty in 1982.

Texas is the state that most carries out death sentences in the country, as it alone carries out about a third of executions in the United States, at a time when 23 American states abolished the death penalty, while other states suspended its implementation by decisions of their governors.