Matthew Reeves
Matthew Reeves was executed by lethal injection at Holman Prison in Atmore, Alabama, on January 27, 2022, for the 1996 murder of Willie Johnson in Dallas County, according to the Alabama Attorney General and the Department of Corrections. He was 43, and in the weeks before his execution he spent his last day with his sister and mother and wrote a poem, as reported by The Sun. His lawyers argued that he was intellectually disabled, reading at a first-grade level, and that he had not understood a form about choosing a different execution method. The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to let the execution proceed, and Justice Elena Kagan dissented.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. His lawyers said he was intellectually disabled, and the U.S. Supreme Court split 5-4 to allow the execution while Justice Elena Kagan dissented.
Reported by: Alabama Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); U.S. Supreme Court (court); Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall; The Mirror (reporters).