Arkansas death row inmate who was first on the ‘conveyor belt of death’ has execution postponed AFTER eating a final meal of fried chicken and mashed potatoes
But seven of the state’s record breaking eight lethal injections in 11 days WILL go ahead
A DEATH row inmate was given his last meal of fried chicken before his execution was dramatically postponed thanks to the US Supreme Court.
Don Davis Jr, 54, was served his final dinner of fried chicken, rolls, great Northern beans, mashed potatoes, strawberry cake and fruit punch on Monday night.
Arkansas's Attorney General was determined to get the execution underway before the warrant expired at midnight, reports .
But a stay of execution, granted by the state's Supreme Court on Saturday, was upheld by the US Supreme Court - delaying Davis's death.
The state is locked in a legal battle after it abruptly scheduled eight prisoners to die over 11 days as Arkansas's supply of the lethal injection ingredient Midazolam approaches its expiration date.
But over the weekend, US District Judge Kristine Baker granted temporary stays of execution for all of the prisoners - putting off Davis's for one day.
All eight have committed shocking and heinous crimes including murder, rape and robbery.
Davis, 54, murdered 64-year-old Jane Daniels by shooting her in the back of her head in her home during a robbery.
Another man, Bruce Earl Ward, 60, was also scheduled to die on Monday but was granted a stay of execution by a different judge on Friday after lawyers argued he wasn't mentally fit to be executed.
He was sentenced to death for strangling 18-year-old Rebecca Doss in 1989 in the men's bathroom of a convenience store where she worked.
Convict Jason McGehee was due to be executed on April 27 but he has been granted a permanent stay.
The other five scheduled to be executed are Stacey Eugene Johnson, Jack Harold Jones, Ledell Lee, Kenneth D Williams and Marcel W Williams.
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The rushed schedule attracted a barrage of legal complaints from pharmaceutical companies and lawyers acting on the prisoners' behalf.
Judge Baker accepted inmates' concerns about the lethal injection and its ingredients.
Midazolam, a painkiller meant to render recipients unconscious, has failed in previous executions across the country.
The drug expires at the end of the month.
Two other chemicals are used in the injection - vecuronium bromide, a paralytic, and potassium chloride which stops the heart.
The Arkansas Supreme Court also overturned a temporary restraining order, issued by state Judge Wendell Griffen on Friday, banning the use of vecuronium bromide.
The case was brought by a pharmaceutical company, which claimed it sold the drug to the state for medical use and not capital punishment.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said the US Supreme Court's decision was "heartbreaking" for Davis's victim's family.
She told CNN: "Davis was convicted of his crimes in 1992, and my office took every action it could today to see that justice was carried out.
"Ultimately, the US Supreme Court has the final say and has decided not to lift the stay at this time."
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