Kevin Johnson (L) with his daughter Corionsa 'Khorry' Ramey
A Missouri man convicted of murder is to be put to death in the midwestern US state on Tuesday in an execution that his 19-year-old daughter has been barred from witnessing.
Kevin Johnson, a 37-year-old African-American, was sentenced to death for the 2005 murder of a white policeman in a suburb of St Louis.
Johnson is to be put to death by lethal injection at 6:00 pm Central Time (0000 GMT) in a prison in the town of Bonne Terre.
Johnson’s daughter, Corionsa “Khorry” Ramey, sued to be allowed to witness her father’s execution but a federal court turned down her request because she is below the minimum state age of 21.
“I’m heartbroken that I won’t be able to be with my dad in his last moments,” Ramey said in a statement following the court decision.
“My dad is the most important person in my life,” she said. “He has been there for me my whole life, even though he’s been incarcerated.
“He is a good father, the only parent I have left,” Ramey said. “He has worked very hard to rehabilitate himself in prison.”
Corene Kendrick, a lawyer for Ramey and the American Civil Liberties Union, condemned the court’s refusal to allow her to attend the execution.
“Compounding her pain and grief by barring her from being with her father will do nothing to provide closure or healing to anyone else,” Kendrick said.
“If 19 is not old enough to witness an execution, then the state should spare Mr. Johnson’s life for what he did when he was 19.”
Johnson was convicted of shooting and killing a white police sergeant on July 5, 2005, two hours after the death of Johnson’s 12-year-old brother from a seizure.
Police officers were at the family home at the time to serve an arrest warrant on Johnson and he blamed the police for his brother’s death.
Johnson’s lawyers have filed last-minute appeals in a bid to save his life, arguing that his 2007 conviction and death sentence were tainted by racial discrimination.
A special prosecutor appointed to look into the case has asked for a stay of execution, citing evidence of racial discrimination on the part of the state prosecutor.
The Missouri Supreme Court was hearing arguments in the case on Monday.
If the court declines to halt the execution and it goes ahead, Johnson would be the 17th inmate put to death in the United States this year.
