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FLORIDA (USA): CHADWICK BANKS EXECUTED
November 13, 2014: Chadwick Banks, 43, Black, was executed.
He was condemned for the September 24, 1992 killing of 10-year-old Melody Cooper.
Banks also received a life sentence for the murder of his wife, Cassandra Banks, 30.
Banks, who was 21 at the time, confessed to both crimes.
Authorities said Banks was drinking and playing pool at a bar before going home about 3 a.m. the night of the slayings. Banks shot his wife point-blank in the head and then raped and shot his stepdaughter, according to authorities. "I would like to apologize to the following families who I hurt and disappointed by my actions 22 years ago," Banks said during a brief statement.
Seth Penalver, who was exonerated from death row in 2012 knew Banks while the 2 were in prison. He was across the street from the prison during the execution. He said that Banks, who listed his Muslim name of Magbul Abdur-Rahiym on his written statement, was a changed man when he knew him. "He had a bad past," Penalver said. "He was changed man, but he was human being first and foremost."
The execution began at 7:10 p.m., after which Banks closed his eyes and began to breath deeply. A team warden conducted a consciousness check by touching his eyelash and shaking his shoulders. Banks did not appear to make any movements following the check. He was pronounced dead at 7:27 p.m. Florida uses a 3-drug mixture to execute prisoners: midazolam hydrochloride, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride.
Banks was the 8th person executed in Florida this year, the 89th to be put to death in Florida since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979, the 32nd to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1391st overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (Sources: Tallahassee Democrat, Associated Press & Rick Halperin, 13/11/2014)
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