UPDATE 10:44 p.m. (CST):
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas has put to death inmate Marcel Williams, marking the first double execution in the United States since 2000.
Williams was pronounced dead at 10:33 p.m. Monday, 17 minutes after the procedure began at the Cummins Unit in southeast Arkansas. Inmate Jack Jones was executed earlier in the evening.
Williams was sent to death row for the 1994 rape and killing of 22-year-old Stacy Errickson, whom he’d kidnapped from a gas station in central Arkansas.
Arkansas had scheduled eight executions over an 11-day period before the end of April, when its supply of one lethal injection drug expires. One inmate was put to death last week, though the first three executions were canceled because of court rulings.
UPDATE 8:30 p.m. (CST):
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A federal judge in Little Rock has temporarily halted the execution of Arkansas inmate Marcel Williams after his attorneys questioned whether the night’s earlier execution went properly.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker halted Williams’ execution until 8:30 p.m. Monday or until she issues another order, whichever is later. He had been set for execution at 8:15 p.m. Monday.
Williams’ attorneys said that it took 45 minutes for prison staff to place an IV into inmate Jack Jones, who was executed earlier Monday. The attorneys say that Williams, who is obese, could face a “torturous death.”
The attorneys’ last-minute filing said Jones showed “continued consciousness” after the midazolam was administered.
UPDATE 7:50 p.m. (CST):
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an execution stay for inmate Marcel Williams, which will allow Arkansas to put to death two inmates in a single night.
Justices rejected Williams’ request for a stay Monday night. Williams is scheduled for execution at about 8:15 p.m.
Williams had argued that his obesity could make it difficult for officials to place an IV, and also that his previous lawyers were ineffectual at trial and during earlier appeals.
Arkansas earlier executed inmate Jack Jones Monday night. The two executions would be the first time since 2000 that a state has conducted a double execution.
UPDATE 7:45 p.m. (CST):
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — An Arkansas inmate put to death in the first of a planned double-execution apologized to the family of the woman he raped and killed in 1995.
Jack Jones delivered about a two-minute final statement, ending with, “I’m sorry.”
He told Phillips’ daughter, Lacy, who was injured during the attack, that he hoped that “over time you can learn who I really am and I am not a monster.”
There were no apparent signs of complications during the execution. Jones was pronounced dead at 7:20 p.m., about 14 minutes after the procedure began. His chest stopped moving two minutes after a consciousness check.
UPDATE 7:30 p.m. (CST):
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Supreme Court has again rejected a request to block the execution for inmate Marcel Williams, who is set to die Monday night.
The court denied the request from Williams, whose execution is set for 8:15 p.m. Monday. Williams still has appeals pending with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Earlier Monday, Arkansas executed inmate Jack Jones. If the state conducts both executions Monday, it will be the first double execution in the United States since 2000.
EARLIER:
Arkansas has executed inmate Jack Jones by lethal injection, the first of what would be the only double-execution in the U.S. since 2000.
Jones was pronounced dead at 7:20 p.m. Monday at the state’s Cummins Unit in southeast Arkansas. Barring any last-minute stays, inmate Marcel Williams will be executed later Monday.
Jones was sent to death row for the 1995 rape and killing of Mary Phillips. He was also convicted of attempting to kill Phillips’ 11-year-old daughter and was convicted in another rape and killing in Florida.
Jones said earlier this month that he was ready for execution. Jones used a wheelchair and he’d had a leg amputated in prison because of complications related to diabetes.
Arkansas had scheduled eight executions over an 11-day period before the end of April, when its supply of one lethal injection drug expires. One inmate was put to death last week, though the first three executions were canceled because of court rulings.