After 17 years on death row: police killer executed in US Number of new corona infections in China drops slightly

A police officer sentenced to death has been executed in the United States. Kevin Johnson, 37, was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m. local time in Bonne Terre, Missouri after receiving a lethal injection, authorities said Tuesday (local time). Johnson’s 19-year-old daughter had failed an application to attend the execution of the death sentence.

The African-American shot and killed a white police officer in a St. Louis suburb in 2005. Two hours earlier, his 12-year-old brother had died of a stroke when police officers attempted to arrest Johnson for violating the terms of his probation. Johnson, then 19, blamed the police for his little brother’s death and shot and killed an officer.

Johnson’s daughter, Corionsa Ramey, requested to attend her father’s execution. However, the judiciary refused because the minimum age to witness an execution in Missouri is 21. “It breaks my heart that I can’t be by my father’s side in his final moments,” Ramey said last week after failing in court with her application.

Johnson is the 17th inmate to be executed in the United States this year. Despite massive criticism, many states maintain the death penalty. (sda/afp)