Mississippi executes man for rape, murder of teen girl
CBSN
A man who pleaded guilty to raping and killing a 16-year-old girl was put to death by lethal injection in Mississippi on Wednesday, becoming the second inmate executed by the state in 10 years.
A coroner pronounced Thomas Edwin Loden Jr., 58, dead at 6:12 p.m. at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. The manner of death had been the subject of Loden's final attempt to stave off the execution.
He has been on death row since 2001, when he pleaded guilty to capital murder, rape and four counts of sexual battery against Leesa Marie Gray. Earlier this month, a federal judge declined to block Mississippi from carrying out the execution amid a pending lawsuit from Loden and four Mississippi death row inmates over the state's lethal injection protocol. Mississippi's most recent execution was in November 2021.
