Ernest Lee Johnson executed in Missouri for 1994 triple murder

Ernest Lee Johnson was executed by the state of Missouri on Tuesday after he spent more than 25 years on death row following his conviction in the killings of three employees at a convenience store in 1994.

Lawyers for Johnson, who was 61 at the time of his court-ordered death, fought to have his execution delayed or canceled and argued that he suffered from an intellectual disability, which, according to them, made his execution by the state unconstitutional.

"This is not a close case," attorneys argued in documents. "Ernest Johnson is intellectually disabled. To permit the State of Missouri to execute Mr. Johnson undermines this Court’s authority, and precedent and would represent a fundamental miscarriage of justice."