US state executes first inmate in 12 years, first in series of planned executionsREUTERS Ledell Lee, top row third from left in this photo, was the first man to die in a planned series of executions. The US state of Arkansas executed its first inmate in 12 years after a protracted legal battle that questioned aspects of the use of the death penalty in the United States. Lee was convicted and sentenced to death for beating Debra Reese to death with a tyre iron in 1993. Reese's relatives were at the Cummins Unit and told media Lee deserved to die for a crime that ripped their lives apart. Lee had maintained his innocence for years and was seeking DNA tests his lawyers said could prove his innocence.

Source: Stuff April 21, 2017 05:48 UTC