A man who was executed for killing his live-in girlfriend and her three children has said 'death is not the enemy' in his final statement.
Raheem Taylor, 58, was put to death by lethal injection around midnight GMT on Wednesday at Bonne Terre state prison in Missouri, United States.
The third death row inmate to be put to death at the prison since November, his execution was also the nation's fifth so far this year following one in Missouri, two in Texas and one in Oklahoma. All were by lethal injection.
Taylor kicked his feet as 5 grams of lethal pentobarbital were administered, taking five or six deep breaths before all movement stopped.
An official last statement published shortly before his death saw him make a deeply religious appeal which appeared to suggest he was not afraid of his fate.
He wrote: "Muslims don't die. We live eternally in the hearts of our family and friends. From Allah we came and to Allah we shall return.
"Everybody will get their turn to die. Death is not your enemy, it is your destiny. Look forward to meeting it. Peace!"
Taylor consistently maintained that he was 2,000 miles away in California when live-in girlfriend Angela Rowe, her 10-year-old daughter Alexus Conley, 6-year-old daughter AcQreya Conley, and 5-year-old son Tyrese Conley were killed nearly two decades ago
Police were sent to the home on December 3, 2004, after worried family members said they hadn’t heard from Rowe.
Officers found the bodies of Rowe and her children. All four had been shot.
Taylor's death sentence was opposed by a number of national organisations, including the NAACP and nearly three dozen civil rights and religious groups.
His innocence claims were refused several times.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, a Democrat, last week declined Taylor's request for a hearing before a judge, stating the "facts are not there to support a credible case of innocence."
Before the execution, an attorney for Raheem Taylor urged the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a “constitutionally intolerable event” — the potential execution of an innocent man.
Attorney Kent Gipson’s motion asked the Supreme Court to grant a stay of execution and appoint a special master to review Taylor’s innocence claim.
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene.
Republican Gov. Mike Parson also declined to grant clemency on Monday, the same day the Missouri Supreme Court also denied a stay request.
