Lawyer: Missouri executed man will appeals still pending
By JIM SALTER
Associated Press
The attorney for a man who was executed this week is calling for an investigation, accusing Missouri officials of moving ahead with the lethal injection while federal appeals were pending. Raheem Taylor was executed Tuesday night for the 2004 deaths of his girlfriend and her three children in suburban St. Louis. Taylor claimed innocence, saying he was in California when the family was killed. The Missouri and U.S. Supreme courts declined to halt the execution, but Taylor’s attorneys filed late appeals on the issue of whether Taylor’s spiritual adviser should have been allowed in the execution room.