Inmate asks for electric chair death in Thursday execution
Posted Aug 14, 2019 02:52:44 PM.
NASHVILLE — A Tennessee inmate has made a last minute request to be put to death in the electric chair instead of dying by lethal injection.
The state Department of Correction on Wednesday confirmed 56-year-old Stephen West made the request ahead of his Thursday execution. He previously opted against selecting a preference, which would have resulted in lethal injection. Offenders who were sentenced to death before January 1999 can request electrocution.
West was convicted of the 1986 kidnapping and stabbing deaths of a mother and her 15-year-old daughter, and of raping the teen. West has said his then-17-year-old accomplice killed both victims. The co-defendant received a life sentence, with parole possible in 2030.
Gov. Bill Lee has denied West’s clemency application, which also said West takes powerful medication to treat mental illness.
Kimberlee Kruesi And Jonathan Mattise, The Associated Press
