ST. LOUIS (AP) — Missouri is preparing to execute a man convicted of killing two people while robbing a Columbia restaurant in 1998.
Earl Ringo Jr. is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre. Ringo would be the eighth person put to death in Missouri this year and the 10th since November.
Ringo's attorneys have filed several court appeals to try to spare his life. One appeal questioned Missouri's use of the sedative midazolam in the hours prior to executions, claiming it could dull the inmate's senses to the point that he might not be able to express pain and suffering.
A clemency petition to Gov. Jay Nixon also cites concerns about the fact that Ringo, who is black, was convicted and sentenced by an all-white jury.
