Cecil Clayton
Cecil Clayton, 74, was executed by the state of Missouri on March 17, 2015, having been held on death row as the oldest man in the state's custody. His attorney said that before a 1972 sawmill accident he was happily married, raising a family and working hard in his logging business. His lawyers asked the US Supreme Court to halt the execution, arguing that he was intellectually disabled and mentally impaired after the accident damaged his brain, and that executing him without a competency hearing was unconstitutional. The Death Penalty Information Center describes him as brain-damaged with an IQ of 71. The Supreme Court did not intervene, and the execution was delayed for several hours before it was carried out.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. His lawyers objected that he was intellectually disabled and mentally impaired after a 1972 sawmill brain injury, and that executing him without a competency hearing was unconstitutional.
Reported by: Missouri Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); his lawyers.