An Oklahoma man, Wendell Grissom, was executed by lethal injection on Thursday for the 2005 murder of 23-year-old Amber Matthews during a home robbery. This marks the third execution in the United States this week.
Grissom, 56, was pronounced dead 10 minutes after the procedure began at the state penitentiary in McAlester, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. The execution used a three-drug protocol: Midazolam (sedation), Vecuronium Bromide (respiratory arrest), and Potassium Chloride (cardiac arrest).
Court records indicate that Grissom and an accomplice, Jessie Johns, broke into the home of Dreu Kopf intending to rob it. Grissom shot and wounded Kopf and killed Matthews as she attempted to protect two young children. While Johns received a life sentence without parole, Grissom faced the death penalty.
This week has seen a string of executions across the country. On Tuesday, Louisiana executed Jessie Hoffman using nitrogen gas, marking the state's first execution in 15 years. On Wednesday, Aaron Gunches was executed in Arizona for a 2002 murder. Another execution is scheduled in Florida later on Thursday.
Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, most executions in the U.S. have been carried out by lethal injection. However, alternative methods such as firing squads and nitrogen hypoxia have been used in some states, sparking debate over the ethics of capital punishment.
Currently, 23 states have abolished the death penalty, while three others—California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania—have moratoriums in place.
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