Kevin Johnson was executed on Tuesday night for the July 5, 2005, murder of Kirkwood Police Sgt. Robert McEntee.
‘What I am so afraid of is leaving people behind,” Johnson wrote early Monday. “I am unconditionally sorry for my actions.”
On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court denied Mr. Johnson’s stay of execution. Justices Sotomayor and Jackson dissented and would have granted him a stay.
By a 5-2 vote, the Missouri Supreme Court denied a stay of execution for Johnson on Monday night.
Attorney Shawn Nolan said the state of Missouri killed “an amazing father to his daughter Khorry, and a completely rehabilitated man.”
“Make no mistake about it, Missouri capitally prosecuted, sentenced to death, and killed Kevin because he is Black. Although the current prosecutor appointed by the court found that Kevin’s death sentence was the product of blatant racism by the St. Louis County District Attorney’s Office, the Governor and the Supreme Court of Missouri extinguished the special prosecutor’s pursuit of racial justice and allowed Kevin to be executed anyway,” Nolan said.
“The law is supposed to punish people for what they do, not who they are. Yet, Missouri killed Kevin because of the color of his skin. Shame on all of them.”
Nolan said Johnson accepted responsibility for what he did and “has repeatedly asked for the forgiveness of Sergeant McEntee’s family.”
In a statement released Wednesday morning, the ACLU condemned Johnson’s execution and the actions of former St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch.
“In an unprecedented move, a prosecuting attorney acting on behalf of the St. Louis Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion to vacate Mr. Johnson’s conviction, concluding race played a decisive and unconstitutional factor at every stage of Mr. Johnson’s prosecution — including then-prosecutor Robert McCulloch’s decision to pursue the death penalty and in the prosecution’s jury selection that intentionally removed Black jurors,” the organization said in a release.
Anthony Rothert, director of integrated advocacy, ACLU of Missouri, said “the stain of the ex-prosecutor’s documented history of racial discrimination when it came to death-penalty eligible cases is made permanent now that Missouri imposed an arbitrary expiration on an individual’s life.”
“Missouri’s refusal to allow an investigation into the systemic racism — that its own special prosecutor recognized as the cause of this death sentence — delays an overdue reckoning with how Missouri’s justice system perpetuates white supremacy.”
Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project said “Our thoughts are with Mr. Johnson’s family and loved ones, especially his daughter, Khorry.
“The state has taken Mr. Johnson’s life without fully hearing and deliberating a prosecutor’s conclusions that racial bias played a decisive and illegal role in his conviction and sentence.
“The prosecutor’s conclusions about Mr. Johnson’s case are consistent with decades of research showing the death penalty is a racist punishment, where a Black person charged with the death of a white victim is far more likely to be sentenced to death. Mr. Johnson should have had the opportunity to show this constitutional violation in court.
“Missouri officials have a duty to uphold the Constitution, and our Constitution bars racial discrimination. Punishment and vengeance overpowered the pursuit of fairness, equal protection and justice.”
Johnson’s attorneys, members of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, state NAACP Director Nimrod Chapel and others had gathered at a rally in Jefferson City to persuade the state Supreme Court to at least delay the execution.
It was to no avail.
A vigil was held at 3 p.m. Tuesday at St. Louis City Circuit Court at Market and Tucker, a group then traveled to Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center Prison in Bonne Terre, MO, where the execution took place.
About 30 people awaited the announcement outside the prison that Johnson had been killed. that news came before 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Gov. Mike Parson said Monday afternoon that clemency would not be granted.
“Mr. Johnson has received every protection afforded by the Missouri and United States Constitutions, and Mr. Johnson’s conviction and sentence remain for his horrendous and callous crime. The State of Missouri will carry out Mr. Johnson’s sentence according to the Court’s order and deliver justice,” Governor Parson said in a release.
“The violent murder of any citizen, let alone a Missouri law enforcement officer, should be met only with the fullest punishment state law allows. Through Mr. Johnson’s own heinous actions, he stole the life of Sergeant McEntee and left a family grieving, a wife widowed, and children fatherless. Clemency will not be granted.”
Johnson admitted shooting Kirkwood Police Sgt. Robert McEntee multiple times and killing him on July 5, 2005. Johnson said he felt police were responsible for the death of his brother earlier that day. During his trial, Johnson’s life of abuse and poverty were also part of extensive testimony.
“Rest in peace, Kevin. Our thoughts are with his daughter and family,” Nolam said.
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