Arkansas has executed its first death row inmate in nearly 12 years after clearing numerous legal challenges. While the death penalty is a popular form of punishment in Arkansas, a devoted few dozen protestors have been showing up this week at Governor Asa Hutchinson’s residence.
Over the course of the day, the vigil for Ledell Lee ebbed and flowed in attendance. There was a constant crowd size of about 50 people.
Many people, including Sandra Cone, stayed for six hours until the state’s last hour execution.
“For me as a Christian when I heard his last meal was communion that just broke my heart,” said a distraught Cone.
The state now prepares to execute two inmates on Monday night, and another next Thursday, before a lethal injection drug supply expires.
Governor Hutchinson spent much of the night in his office at the nearby state Capitol building.