Tommy Lynn Sells Executed - 'What a Great Day!' Victim's Father Says
Tommy Lynn Sells was executed in the state of Texas yesterday in accordance with his sentence for the murder of 13-year-old Kaylene Harris. Sells was injected with a dose of pentobarbital after all of his appeals had been denied.
"What a great day!" Kaylene's father, Terry Harris, told the Associated Press after the execution was carried out. It was "way more gentle than what he gave out," Terry added.
Sells refused to give a final statement and, according to eyewitnesses, took a few deep breaths before his eyes closed and he began to snore. He was pronounced dead just 13 minutes after the pentobarbital was administered. Two of his friends, as well as his spiritual adviser, witnessed the execution.
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The 49-year-old was convicted of the murder of 13-year-old Kaylene in 1999. He reportedly snuck into her bedroom and, armed with a butcher knife, tried to molest the teen before stabbing her 16 times and slitting her throat. He also slit the throat of a friend who was sleeping in the top bunk of the bed. She survived and helped police identify Sells. He never expressed remorse for his crimes and told ABC News that he often thought of the one that got away.
Sells tried to halt the execution by filing a petition asking for the distributor of the drugs, as well as the exact cocktail used, to be publicly named. A lower court agreed and temporarily stopped Sells' execution. However, earlier this week, an appellate court overturned that ruling and Sells was put to death as planned. Another inmate is scheduled to be executed next week.
Pentobarbital has become synonymous with the death penalty, which is why foreign makers refuse to sell it to the U.S. As a result, pharmacies have begun mixing their own solutions of the drug, but that information, along with the pharmacies' names, has been kept private in order to prevent threats or lawsuits against them.
