Thomas Edwin Loden Jr was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday night
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)A man who raped and killed a 16-year-old girl in Mississippi has been executed.
Thomas Edwin Loden Jr was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday night, becoming the second inmate executed in the state in 10 years.
The 58-year-old had been on death row since 2001, when he pleaded guilty to capital murder, rape and four counts of sexual battery against Leesa Marie Gray. The waitress was stranded with a flat tire in June 2000 when Loden forced her into his van.
Loden told investigators he spent four hours sexually assaulting her before strangling and suffocating her.
The following afternoon, court records say “Loden was discovered lying by the side of a road with the words ‘I’m sorry’ carved into his chest and apparent self-inflicted lacerations on his wrists.”
Loden said he was “deeply remorseful” before the injection started at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman.
“For the past 20 years, I’ve tried to do a good deed every single day to make up for the life I took from this world,” Loden said. “I know these are mere words and cannot erase the damage I did. If today brings you nothing else, I hope you get peace and closure.”
He concluded his last words by saying “I love you” in Japanese, officials said.
Ms Gray had been working as a waitress at her uncle’s restaurant in northeast Mississippi during the summer ahead of her senior year of high school. On June 22, 2000, she left work after dark and got a flat tire.
Loden, a Marine Corps recruiter with relatives in the area, stopped at around 10.45pm and began talking with her about the flat. “Don’t worry. I’m a Marine. We do this kind of stuff,” he said.
Loden told investigators he became angry after Ms Gray allegedly said she would never want to be a Marine, and he ordered her into his van. He spent four hours sexually assaulting her before strangling and suffocating her, he told investigators.
The following afternoon, court records say “Loden was discovered lying by the side of a road with the words `I’m sorry’ carved into his chest and apparent self-inflicted lacerations on his wrists.”
Ms Gray’s mother, Wanda Farris, described her daughter as a “happy-go-lucky, always smiling” teenager who aspired to become an elementary school teacher.
“She wasn’t perfect, now, mind you,” shes said. “But she strived to do right.”
