Harold McQueen was executed by the State of Kentucky for the murder of Rebecca O’Hearn
According to court documents Harold McQueen would rob a store and in the process of the armed robbery would shoot and kill the clerk Rebecca O’Hearn
Harold McQueen would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Harold McQueen would be executed by way of the electric chair on July 1 1997
Harold McQueen Photos
Harold McQueen Case
Condemned killer Harold McQueen Jr., has become the first person to be executed in Kentucky since 1962.
The 44-year-old death row inmate, convicted of killing a clerk during a convenience store robbery in 1980, died in the electric chair early today. The execution began at 12:05 a.m. CDT with a 2,100-volt charge and McQueen was pronounced dead at 12:07 a.m.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to issue a stay of execution. McQueen had raised new technical grounds in multiple applications for a stay. In a final statement released to the media, McQueen said, ‘I want to apologize once again to the victim’s family and I want to apologize to my family because they’re victims, too. I want to thank those who sent me cards, letters and prayers, and I ask them to keep fighting against the death penalty.’
Just after midnight, McQueen’s religious advisor, Paul Stevens, said a prayer. McQueen smiled towards the witnesses as guards placed headgear and leg gear on him. A veil was placed over his head and the switch releasing the voltage was pulled. McQueen enjoyed a final meal of two cheesecakes, which he shared with Stevens, prior to the execution. In documents filed with the Supreme Court, his lawyers said in part, ‘McQueen has genuinely changed from the drug-addicted, reckless person that he was in 1980, to a spiritual, remorseful, law-abiding inmate.’ He was and sentenced to death in Richmond, Ky., in April 1981
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1997/07/01/Ky-inmate-executed/1940867729600/