Alabama Carries Out 5th Execution of 2011

The 36th Execution of 2011

Derrick O'Neal Mason was executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Holman Correctional Institute in Atmore, Alabama, according to the Huntsville Times. He was pronounced dead at 6:49 p.m.
In the final hours before the execution, Mason refused to eat breakfast and he wasn't expected to eat dinner, either, prison officials said. He did not request a special last meal, saying he was fasting today. Several people visited him at the prison, and five of Mason's family members were expected to witness the execution, while four of the victim's relatives were set to be witnesses. Their names were not released.

Mason apologized to the victim's family in his final statement. It was his second apology to the family -- the first was via letter two or three years after Cagle's death, and was issued out of "deep remorse and sadness," according to the executive director of Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty.

According to the Times, Mason's lawyers filed emergency appeals with the Alabama Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court asking that his scheduled execution be postponed for further review of his death penalty sentence. Those appeals were denied.

To read more:  http://blog.al.com/breaking/2011/09/derrick_oneal_mason_execution.html