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US carries out rare execution during presidential transition

FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2020, file photo, a no trespassing sign is displayed outside the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind. As Donald Trump's presidency winds down, his administration is throttling up the pace of federal executions despite a surge of COVID-19 cases in prison, announcing plans for five executions just days before the Jan. 20 inauguration of death penalty foe Joe Biden. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
by: WRTV Staff
Posted: / Updated:

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — The Trump administration has carried out its ninth execution of the year and the first during a presidential lame-duck period in 130 years.

Federal prison officials in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Thursday, executed a Texas street-gang member for his role in the 1999 slayings of an Iowa religious couple.

The case of 40-year-old Brandon Bernard was a rare execution of a person who was in his teens when his crime was committed.

Bernard was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, the AP reported.

He was 18 when he and four other teenagers abducted and robbed Todd and Stacie Bagley on their way from a Sunday service in Killeen, Texas.

According to the Associated Press, reality TV star Kim Kardashian West had even asked President Trump to commute Bernard’s sentence to life in prison.

Bernard’s last words, which were directed to the Bagley family, were “I’m sorry,” the AP reported.

Four more federal executions, including one Friday, are planned in the weeks before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

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