On Tuesday evening, a man who abducted and fatally beat a 6-year-old Missouri girl at an abandoned factory two decades ago was executed after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to block the execution, despite arguments regarding his mental incompetence.

Johnny Johnson, aged 45, received a lethal injection of pentobarbital at a state prison in Bonne Terre, and he was pronounced dead at 6:33 p.m. CDT.

He had been convicted of the July 2002 killing of Casey Williamson in the St. Louis area suburb of Valley Park, the Associated Press reports.

Johnson, who had schizophrenia, expressed remorse in a brief handwritten statement released by the Department of Corrections before his execution. He said, “God Bless. Sorry to the people and family I hurt.”

As the execution took place, Johnson lay on his back with a sheet covering him up to his neck.

He turned his head to the left, seemingly listening to his spiritual adviser, just before the lethal injection began. He then faced forward with his eyes closed, showing no further physical reaction.

Several members of the victim’s family, as well as the former prosecutor and police investigator who handled the case, witnessed Johnson’s execution.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a late request to stay the execution, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor and two other justices dissenting from the decision.

Written by staff