NASHVILLE — Tennessee executed a blind man Thursday night convicted in the 1991 murder of his estranged girlfriend, multiple news outlets reported.
According to the Tennessean, death row inmate Lee Hall became the state's fourth prisoner executed in the electric chair since 2018.
Hall, 53, was pronounced dead at 7:26 p.m., according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
Hall, also known as Leroy Hall Jr., was found guilty in 1992 of first-degree murder and aggravated arson in the 1991 death of his former girlfriend Traci Crozier, the newspaper reported.
According to CBS News, electrocution is an execution option available to Tennessee inmates convicted of crimes prior to January 1999.
A witness to the execution said that Hall's final words were that "people need to learn forgiveness and love and make the world a better place," the network reported.
According to the Tennessean, Crozier's sister, Staci Wooten, read a prepared statement following the execution, stating 28 years of pain for her family has finally ended.
“Our family’s peace can begin, but another family’s hell has to begin. We all fought this battle for you, Traci, and today we won,” Wooten said.
The paper also noted Hall released his own statement – read by his attorney John Spragens following the execution – apologizing to the Crozier family.
“I’m sorry for the pain I caused," Hall's statement read. “I ask for your forgiveness, and I hope and pray that someday you can find it in your heart to forgive me."
Cox Media Group
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