Mississippi executes man who raped, killed 16-year-old girl in 2000

Mississippi on Wednesday executed a man who committed a brutal rape-murder over 20 years ago, making him the second inmate put to death by the state over the last decade. 

Thomas Edwin Loden, Jr. was pronounced dead on Wednesday evening after undergoing lethal injection. In 2001 he pleaded guilty to the murder of Leesa Marie Gray, whom he had kidnapped from the side of the road as she was stranded with a flat tire on her car. 

An appeal by Loden to block the execution had been turned down earlier this month by a federal judge. Prior to his death, Loden professed to be "deeply remorseful."

“For the past 20 years, I’ve tried to do a good deed every single day to make up for the life I took from this world,” he said. “I know these are mere words and cannot erase the damage I did. If today brings you nothing else, I hope you get peace and closure.”

Leesa Gray's mother, Wanda Farris, was present at the execution and told media that she "[didn't] particularly want to see somebody die."

"But I do believe in the death penalty," she said. "I do believe in justice.”