Man who has been on death row for two decades gave sad final vow before execution

A man who has been on death row for two decades now has shared his final vow before being executed by lethal injection earlier this week in Missouri, United States.

On Tuesday night (14 October), the likes of 48-year-old Lance Shockley was executed at the Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre and was pronounced dead at 6:13 pm local time, after the state's governor denied his clemency petition.

Shockley was convicted of first-degree murder for fatally shooting a Missouri state trooper, Sgt. Carl Graham, 20 years ago in 2005, according to court records. A jury unanimously convicted him of the death of Graham.

While the inmate had maintained his innocence for the last two decades, with his lawyers arguing in multiple appeals that he client did not receive a fair trial or sentencing, the state repeatedly refuted such claims.

Lance Shockley was given the lethal injection in a Missouri state prison last night (14 October) (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP)

During Shockley's trial, prosecutors said that before Graham's murder, the state trooper was investigating Shockley for manslaughter in connection with a car accident that took place in November 2004 and resulted in the death of a passenger, who was Shockley's friend.

They claimed that Shockley murdered Graham in the hopes of putting the investigation to an end.

The prosecutors alleged that Shockley drove to the victim's house, waited for him to return home, and, as he was exiting his vehicle, shot the state trooper multiple times before leaving the scene.

Shockley was reportedly visited by his daughters and a friend in the morning of his execution, according to prison officials.

In a written final statement, he made the vow: "So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you."

Shockley said he would see his loved ones 'again' right before receiving the lethal injection (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP News)

The day before his planned death on Monday (13 October), Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe announced his decision to reject Shockley's plea to stay the execution, allowing the corrections department to proceed as planned with his lethal injection.

"Mr. Shockley has received every legal protection afforded to him under the Missouri and United States Constitutions, and his conviction and sentence will remain for his brutal and deliberate crime," he said.

"The State of Missouri has - and will continue to - pursue justice to the fullest extent of the law. Carrying out Lance Shockley's sentence is evidence of our commitment to the pursuit of justice."

Shockley is the first person to have been put to death this year in Missouri, where no other executions are scheduled for 2025, with the last one in the state taking place on December 3, 2024, when Christopher Collings died by lethal injection for the sexual assault and killing of a nine-year-old girl.