Execution #4

Darwin Demond Brown
Executed January 22, 2009 06:11 p.m. CDT by Lethal Injection in Oklahoma
4th murderer executed in U.S. in 2009
1140th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Oklahoma in 2009
89th murderer executed in Oklahoma since 1976
Summary:
Brown, 32, and three other men were convicted of killing store clerk Richard Yost during the February 1995 robbery of a QuikTrip store in Tulsa. Yost's bound and battered body was discovered by a customer in the store's walk-in refrigerator in a pool of blood, milk and beer. A store surveillance video and audio recording indicated that Yost was moaning and conscious when beaten with a metal baseball bat during a two-minute,11-second span. 54 “pings” were audible on the tape, reflecting the number of times Yost was struck with the bat. Accomplices Michael L. Wilson, 33, and Billy D. Alverson, 37, were also sentenced to death and are awaiting execution. A third defendant who was 17 at the time of the killing, Richard J. Harjo, now 30, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Final/Special Meal:
Barbecue ribs, chopped beef, hot links, baked beans, plain potato chips, coconut doughnuts and chocolate milk. (Inmates are limited to $15 for their last meals request. Food must be available in the McAlester area.)
Final Words:
“I apologize for anybody I hurt. I’m sorry to everybody. … I’d like to thank all of my family for the support that they’ve given me.”
The Execution
As he lay strapped to a metal gurney inside the execution chamber, Brown apologized to the family of his victim who were watching the execution from behind one-way glass.
As the drug cocktail began to flow at 6:05 p.m., Brown coughed and heaved against the leather straps holding him to the gurney. "That's my baby," Dunbar Brown said as his son stopped breathing and the color slowly drained from his face.
The murderer was pronounced dead at 6:11 p.m.