Death Row killer who ‘danced with blood on hands’ refused to say any last words

A mentally disabled man who was put to death in America for the graphic murder in Alabama in 1996 said no final words and only asked for a sprite as his last meal.

The execution of Matthew Reeves, 43, at Holman Prison, in Alabama yesterday was dogged by controversy with lawyers arguing his IQ of 68 meant he did not have the mental ability to choose his execution method.

Reeves was sentenced to death for the November 27 1996 murder of Willie Johnson who he was hitching a ride with.

Reeves was just 18 at the time and robbed Mr Johnson of $360 before fatally shooting him in the neck.

Chillingly, following his reprehensible crime, Reeves then partied and danced afterwards with the blood still wet on his hands.

He also reportedly made fun of what he had done and talked about getting a “teardrop” tattoo to mark having killed someone.

After 26 years on Death Row, Reeve's was finally executed yesterday with his official time of death being 9.24pm.

He had no final words during his last moments alive and requested just a bottle of Sprite for his last meal after prison officials said he refused to eat and made no special request.

The question over Reeves’ intellectual capacity was at the centre of the defence’s case and why the execution had been delayed.

Matthew's attorneys have said he's intellectually disabled, while a defence expert said he reads at a first-grade level and has the language competency of a 4-year-old.

After the execution, Reeves' lawyer John Palombi reportedly stated: “It is disappointing and disheartening that the United States Supreme Court felt no need to explain its decision to permit the execution of Matthew Reeves, despite the opinions of two federal courts which had issued and affirmed an injunction against that execution.

“Matthew Reeves is unquestionably intellectually disabled and unquestionably functionally illiterate. The State’s own expert measured Mr. Reeves’ IQ as 68, well below the cut-off to determine mental disability.”

At the same time Commissioner John Hamm, on behalf of the family of Mr Johnson, said: “After 26 years, justice has finally been served."

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