Texas executes killer of 12-year-old girl

The 31st Execution of 2012

Jonathan Green was convicted of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl in Texas more than a decade ago.  He was executed on October 10 after the U.S. Supreme Court refused his last-minute appeal, reported the Los Angeles Times.

Green was originally scheduled for execution on June 30, 2010, but his attorneys successfully appealed for a stay then and again on Monday, arguing that Green was schizophrenic and did not receive due process in his appeal.

That court overturned the stay late Tuesday, noting that evidence showed Green understood why he was being put to death. The Supreme Court has held that mental illness doesn't automatically disqualify someone from execution, as long as the person understands the punishment and why it's being meted out, reported the Times.

Green was convicted in 2002 of the abduction, rape and strangling of neighbor Christina Neal, snatched as she walked home on June 21, 2000, according to the Texas attorney general's summary of the case. Investigators became suspicious of Green after they learned he had been burning trash soon after the girl's disappearance. They got a warrant to search his property, discovering a shallow grave and inside the house, tucked behind a chair, Christina's body stuffed inside a bag.

Green's last statement reported by the Times was: "I'm an innocent man. I did not kill anyone. Y’all are killing an innocent man. My left arm is killing me, it hurts bad."

To read more:  http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-texas-execution-jonathan-green-20121011,0,2073908.story