Even though several jurors in the case asked for a lesser punishment, a Missouri man who killed two men as a teenager was executed today.
On Tuesday evening local time, a Missouri state prison administered a lethal injection to 42-year-old Michael Tisius.
For killing two sheriff's deputies in an unsuccessful attempt to free a former cellmate, Tisius received the death penalty in 2010.
He was the 12th man to be put to death in the US so far in 2018.
Republican governor of Missouri Mike Parson denied clemency to Tisius. A last-minute appeal to the US Supreme Court for a stay of execution also failed.
Prosecutors claim that in 2000, when he was 19 years old, Tracie Bulington, Roy Vance's ex-girlfriend, showed up with him at the Randolph County jail.
Jason Acton and Leon Egley, two unarmed sheriff's deputies, were shot by Tisius after he pulled out a gun.
He and Bulington attempted to unlock Vance's cell but were unsuccessful and left. After their car broke down, they were apprehended the following day.
In the end, life sentences were imposed on Bulington and Vance.
Due to his age (19 at the time of the killings) and mental illness, Tisius' attorneys had argued that he should not receive the death penalty.
Twelve jurors unanimously voted to recommend the death penalty, but six of those jurors had previously stated their preference for life in prison in sworn affidavits.
Governor Parson, however, denied the request for clemency and emphasized that Tisius had received "due process and fair proceedings" for the "brutal murders.".
Tisius apologized to the families of the men he had killed in a final written statement, expressing "everlasting remorse.".
My apologies. And not just because I've reached the end. But also because I'm really sorry.
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