GRADY, Ark. (KTHV) – Ledell Lee spent his final moments watching sit-coms, discussing reggae, and calling family. Mere hours later, Lee became the first inmate executed by the state of Arkansas since 2005.
For his final meal, Lee requested only Holy Communion, and he also offered no final remarks, even refusing two separate prompts to address the witnesses summoned in the viewing area adjacent to the death chamber.
On February 9, 1993, Jacksonville police arrested Lee just one hour after 26-year-old Debra Reese was sexually assaulted and murdered in her own home. Witnesses claimed they saw Lee walking down the street where Reese lived.
After his arrest and even after his conviction, Lee reiterated his innocence.
Less than 10 months before Lee's execution, a judge appointed Lee Short to serve as Lee’s counsel. Short had never served a death row inmate.
Last Thursday, Short was in the holding cell with Lee in the final hours before his lethal injection.
See Short's extended interview below:
“There were moments where Ledell was pretty nervous,” recalled Short. “He was pacing. There were moments he was very sad, and he was talking to his family, saying goodbye to his daughters telling them to ‘stay strong.’”
Lee gave his only belongings—which consisted of an older radio, various condiments, and potato chips—to fellow death row inmate, Stacey Johnson. Johnson’s life had been spared hours earlier when the Arkansas Supreme Court granted him a stay. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed an emergency motion to reconsider the stay, but the high court rejected it.
"We watched Dawn Scott,” said Short. “It was kind of surreal to watch someone tell you what's going to occur about yourself. Then after [the news] we watched Two and a Half Men and Two Broke Girls. It’s surprising he likes those shows; it helped us forget about why we were there. It’s tough to have a conversation with someone about music and TV shows, and then see a body bag that you know is meant for them.”
Short says that the multiple delays and litigation forced him to leave the holding cell without saying goodbye to Lee.
"The hardest part is thinking there is something else you could have done."