Ledell Lee
Ledell Lee, 51, was executed by lethal injection at the Cummins Unit in Arkansas on April 20, 2017, the state's first execution in more than a decade. His attorneys said he maintained his innocence and sought last-minute stays, including a request for DNA testing, and the procedure was delayed several times while courts halted other scheduled executions. Lee asked to receive communion instead of a last meal, and a prison spokesman said he was given communion that afternoon. Questions were raised about the effectiveness of the sedative midazolam, and a drug supplier disputed how the state obtained one of the lethal injection drugs. In 2021, attorneys for his family reported new DNA results; the Innocence Project said they were incomplete, the state said the evidence was inconclusive, and his sister, Patricia Young, said the family wants to learn the truth.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. His attorneys sought last-minute stays, including a request for DNA testing to prove innocence, and his family's attorneys later reported new DNA profiles that the Innocence Project said were incomplete and partial.
Reported by: Arkansas Department of Correction (the agency that held him); his family's attorneys (family or their lawyers); the Innocence Project (advocates).