25 August 2019 :

Stephen Michael West, who chose to die by electrocution, was executed. West, now 56, White, was sentenced to death on March 25, 1987 after being convicted in the March 17, 1986 fatal stabbing of Wanda Romines, 51, and her 15-year-old daughter Sheila. West maintained that while he raped the 15-year-old victim, his accomplice killed the women. In West's petition for clemency, his attorneys write that then-17-year-old Ronnie Martin had tried to date Sheila Romines and was humiliated when she rejected him. They say Martin coerced West, who was 23 years old at the time and suffered from severe mental illness, to rape Sheila before Martin stabbed the women to death. The attorneys also note that West was tried first, and that his jury never heard a tape recording of Martin admitting that he was the one who had killed the 2 victims. They also write that Martin threatened to have West and his then-pregnant wife killed if West didn't keep quiet about the crimes. Martin ultimately pleaded guilty to 2 counts of first-degree murder and is currently serving a life sentence. After West’s final statement, members of the execution team fastened a helmet to his head and placed a shroud over his face. At 7:19, West’s body jolted upward from the chair as the first current of electricity was administered. His body returned to the chair for a matter of seconds, before rising once again with a second jolt of electricity. West was pronounced dead at 7:27 p.m. In Tennessee, a person who was on death row before 1999 can choose electrocution or lethal injection, which is used for other capital offense inmates. In 2018, Tennessee used the electric chair for 2 executions. West becomes the 2nd condemned inmate to be put to death in Tennessee this year and the 11th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 2000. West becomes the 11th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1501st overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. For the West case, se also HoC 19/11/2010)