William Earl Lynd

After a seven-month moratorium on using lethal injection as a means of execution was lifted, William Earl Lynd became the first inmate to be executed in the United States since September 2007.

The moratorium was voluntarily in place due to a challenge from two inmates in Kentucky. The inmate's claims were brought before the Supreme Court saying that lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Lynd's execution was scheduled for 7:00 pm but was delayed for 34-minutes so the state's lawyers could make final checks with courts. At 7:34 Lynd was administered the first of the three drugs used in lethal injection, 17 minutes later he was pronounced dead.

Lynd was convicted of the 1998 kidnapping and fatal shooting of his live-in girlfriend Ginger Moore during an argument.

A stay of execution presented to Clarence Thomas was denied by the court.

Lynd refused to make a final statement and declined a final prayer.

Fast Facts

1. Pronounced dead at 7:51 pm
2. 53 years old at time of execution
3. 41st man executed in Georgia since 1983, 19th by lethal injection

Last Meal

Lynd requested a meal from a local restaurant of two pepper jack BBQ burgers with crisp onions, two baked potatoes with sour cream, bacon and cheese and a large strawberry milkshake.

Ginger Moore

Lynd was convicted and sentenced to death for shooting Ginger Moore. Testimony states that Lynd first shot Moore in the face followed by another shot after she followed him to their porch. Lynd placed Moore in the trunk of his car and later shot her a third time, killing her, because she was beating on the trunk.

The third shot is disputed as being the one that killed Moore, thereby taking kidnapping out of the equation (i.e. can't kidnap a dead person). If kidnapping charges had been dropped Lynd would have been ineligible for the death penalty.

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