(St. Louis Public Radio) – Pending any stays of execution or clemency, Richard Strong on Tuesday will become the fourth person in Missouri to be put to death this year and the 16th since the state resumed executions in late 2013.
Strong, 48, was convicted of two counts of murder in the October 2000 stabbing deaths of his girlfriend, 23-year-old Eva Washington, and her 2-year-old daughter, Zandrea Thomas, from another relationship. They were killed in an apartment in St. Ann where Washington lived at the time, along with Zandrea and Washington’s other daughter, Alyshia Strong, who is also Richard Strong’s daughter.
Alyshia was 3 months old at the time of the slayings. She was found unharmed and asleep in her crib, according to police reports. Now age 14, she has filed a clemency petition on behalf of her father. In an interview with the Associated Press, Alyshia says her father “sometimes struggles in life,” but that he also “plays an important role in counseling her.”
spokesman for Gov. Jay Nixon says he is reviewing the request.
Strong’s attorney has also asked the U.S. Supreme Court for a stay of execution.
Over the weekend, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected Strong’s appeal to halt his execution, which is scheduled between 6 p.m. Tuesday and 5:59 p.m. Wednesday.
In his appeal, Strong claimed that being put to death would violate both the Missouri and U.S. constitutions “because his severe mental illness at the time of his crimes makes him unfit to be executed.”
But the state’s high court rejected the argument, stating that “he could have raised his claim at trial, on appeal, or during post-conviction relief proceedings.”
Missouri is still using pentobarbital as its execution drug, but there are questions as to where and how the state is getting its supply. A recent article by Buzzfeed’s Chris McDaniel claims that Missouri has been stockpiling doses of pentobarbital so that it has plenty on hand for future executions.
McDaniel, formerly of St. Louis Public Radio, is also a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed last year against the Missouri Department of Corrections for not disclosing information about pentobarbital and other drugs used in the state’s execution protocol.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
