Edward Lee Busby Jr. was declared dead after a lethal injection for the murder, in 2004, of 77-year-old retired university professor Laura Lee Crane. The state of Texas has just carried out its 600th execution since 1982, despite the appeal from Busby’s lawyers to revoke the decision due to his intellectual disability. In his final statement, Busby apologized to both his and Laura Lee Crane’s families and asked for forgiveness.
Busby’s lawyers tried to prevent the execution, arguing that he was intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty, which would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, prohibited by the Constitution. The US Supreme Court, led by conservative judges, rejected the appeal, overturning the lower court’s suspension of the execution. This execution brings the total to 12 so far this year in the US.
Edward Lee Busby became the 600th person to be executed in Texas since 1982, when the southern state resumed capital punishment. Texas is the state with the most death sentences in the US, accounting for a third of all executions in the country. The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have imposed a moratorium on executions by the governor’s decision.
