Latest news with #GregoryHunt
Medscape
14-07-2025
- Health
- Medscape
When ‘No Is Not an Option': Consider Med School Overseas?
Gregory Hunt moved around a lot as a child. Born in Sicily, Italy, he moved back to the US with his military family when he was 11 years, eventually landing in Orlando, Florida. He grew up with few resources and education was not a priority in his family, he said. 'Learning has always been a challenging thing for me,' he said. He knew he wanted to be a doctor in high school, but an academic advisor discouraged him after he failed a couple of classes in his first semester of college. Disappointed, he followed his advisor's suggestion and changed his major to psychology with a minor in health sciences. Hunt ultimately did well enough in college achieving over a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) and excelling in 'many areas,' but 'it was very discouraging, when you hear your academic advisors saying like, 'Oh, I don't think med school is for you, I think you need to look into different alternatives,'' Hunt told Medscape Medical News . Gregory Hunt But a few years after college, his dream of being a doctor caught up with him. While he worked at a nursing home, nurses noticed his people skills and his curiosity about medications. They asked him if he'd ever considered becoming a doctor. 'That really like pushed me,' said Hunt, who then applied to US medical schools but didn't get accepted anywhere. One school accepted him into a gateway master's degree program but there was no guarantee that once he completed the program he would get into the medical school, and he didn't want to take that chance. When he saw a YouTube ad for Saint James School of Medicine with campuses in Anguilla and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, he applied. He was accepted, and he moved in less than a month. 'What led me to Saint James, to the Caribbean, was I just wanted a chance,' he said. 'Caribbean medical schools serve a very interesting purpose,' said Ryan Gray, MD, founder and CEO of 'and a lot of that is to train students who, for one reason or another, can't get into a US medical school or don't want to put in the time to remedy something in their application that's causing them not to be able to get into a US medical school. The biggest of those are going to be GPA and MCAT [medical college admission test] score.' Ryan Gray, MD While US medical schools typically start in the summer every year, international schools — many based in the Caribbean — will usually have three or four different start dates 'to try to get as many people through the system as possible,' Gray said. 'It's a very quick application process to a Caribbean school and potentially start in a couple of weeks,' he said. 'It's a very easy lure for students.' 'Unfortunately, a lot of students think that Caribbean medical schools are a shortcut to a medical degree, but that couldn't be further from the truth,' Gray said. 'It's hard. It's medical school.' Is a Caribbean medical school the right choice for an aspiring doctor and, if so, what are the key factors to consider? When to Consider a Caribbean Medical School Pre-med students should only consider an international or Caribbean medical school if they have applied and not gotten accepted to a US allopathic (MD) or osteopathic (DO) medical school, Gray advises students. Apply to US medical schools three times, he said, before even considering applying abroad. If you apply to a US medical school and don't get in, try to figure out the weaknesses in your application, Gray said. For example, if you need a higher GPA, take more classes. If the issue is your MCAT score, figure out how to improve it by getting a tutor or signing up for a program. Unfortunately, all of that does cost money, Gray acknowledged. Caribbean medical schools often get a bad rap, Gray said, because they are for-profit, as are a minority of medical schools in the US. Being for-profit doesn't make them good or bad, 'but the practice of accepting as many students as possible and kind of dealing with potentially high attrition rates is an unfortunate practice at some of these Caribbean medical schools,' he said. If improving your applications to domestic medical schools doesn't work, then know that the best candidate for a Caribbean medical school is someone who has proven themselves academically, but for some reason the MCAT 'doesn't click for them' even after multiple tries, Gray said. That student is probably going to do fine in medical school because the MCAT is not like other tests they'll face in the remainder of their training, he said. 'At the end of the day, an individual student's success comes down to the amount of work that they're willing to put into it, whether you're at a US institution or an international institution,' he said. He's seen students reach out who got kicked out of a Caribbean medical school and now want to try again to get into a US school. 'And it's a long, long potential issue to get into that because they've already proven once they can't handle medical school,' Gray said. Student Experience Varies Students who leave the US for medical school report have mixed feelings about their academic experience and their futures in medicine, according to preliminary data from a Medscape report that will be published later this year. On a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the best, 50% of students who go to a medical school outside the US (OUS) rated their school's clinical rotations as 4 or a 5 compared with 63% of US students. And while 81% of US students said they were either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their overall clinical instruction, only 57% of OUS students said the same. On the same question, 30% of OUS students said they were very or somewhat dissatisfied compared with just 8% of US students. Despite those numbers, more OUS students said they were very confident or somewhat confident that they will develop the practical skills in medical school that are needed in residency — 47%-44% for US students. Too Long a Wait Not everybody follows the suggestion to apply to medical school three times. Growing up, Victor Adedara, now a 4th year medical student at St. George's University School of Medicine (SGU) in Grenada, saw many doctors in the New York and New Jersey area who were graduates of the school. He had applied to US osteopathic (DO) medical schools and was waitlisted at one, but the wait was too long, he said. SGU also offered him a full scholarship. SGU — considered one of the 'Top Four' Caribbean medical schools — boasts a 95% US residency placement for US graduates over the last 5 years. The school is approved by key regulatory bodies including New York, New Jersey, and California state boards as well as the Florida Commission for Independent Education, according to SGU. However, many students at international medical schools are '…at a disadvantage at almost every turn,' Gray cautioned. About 93.5% of US MD seniors matched to first-year residency positions in 2025, within the historical 92%-95%, according to the National Resident Matching Program, whereas only 67.8% of US international medical graduates matched to postgraduate year-1 positions. Victor Adedara If you are thinking about applying to a Caribbean medical school, consider asking that school about residency match rates and US Medical Licensing Examination pass rates. Also ask about clerkships and away-elective opportunities at hospitals with attached US residency programs. 'So it's their opportunity to kind of audition, so to speak, for residency and show how good they are, because they're going to need letters of recommendation from these physicians who they're rotating with,' Gray said. 'I think ultimately the thing to understand is that any school outside of the US is not an accredited US institution,' Gray said. The exception is Puerto Rico, where medical schools are accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) which certifies all US allopathic (MD) medical schools. Students at international medical schools will have to apply for certification from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates before coming back to the US for residency training. 'Forced to Overcome' Attending a Caribbean medical school could be a culture shock, Gray said. Being in the Caribbean is a struggle, Hunt said. 'You see people on the street. You see lack of access to healthcare. You see a whole bunch of poverty.' And sometimes there is no electricity, power, or water. Hunt learned he needed actual textbooks due to the fluctuating power supply, making his electronic devices unreliable. There also isn't top-notch equipment or the newest edition textbooks. 'It's a very rough adjustment,' he said. It can also be hard to make a phone call or get home to visit family, Hunt said. He visits family back in Florida every 6 or 7 months. It's also self-directed much of the time, he said. 'You're going to be alone in a room and you're going to be talking to yourself.' He decided to slow down his academic pace to 2.5 years of basic sciences and will complete that in May 2026 before moving on to clinical rotations. But there is beauty in the toughness. 'You're in intense environments every single day, so you're forced to overcome,' Hunt said. He's also had opportunities to participate in research, to take part in a service-learning trip in Peru, and to network with a large group of classmates, many of whom share his values. 'I think the common trait that international students have is that 'no is not an option,'' he said. The third and fourth year of medical school is totally self-directed at SGU, Adedara said, which he likes. He did some clinical rotations in the UK. Going to another country and trying to learn the system is a very interesting thing, he said. 'Not everyone can go to a different country and adapt, so it made my adaptability skills become better.' 'It's been a great time because going to Grenada, going to the UK, going to Europe, I understand, I could live in different places, and I still survive. I can understand (the) way things are being done in different countries,' he said. Adedara and Hunt's opportunities come with a significant price. While Adedara received a full scholarship to cover tuition at SGU, he still expects to owe approximately $120,000 when he graduates. Hunt will have to pay a lot more. Some Caribbean medical schools such as SGU can offer loans from the US Department of Education but others do not. Hunt had to take out private loans at a 15% interest rate. He anticipates owing $250,000 for medical school. He'll also need to pay back loans he took out for his MBA degree he is pursuing. According to the Education Data Initiative, medical school graduates, as of last August, carry an average educational debt of $234,597, not including undergraduate debt. 'Private loans are an unfortunate part of many of the international medical schools,' Gray said in an email. 'There are a few [international medical schools like SGU, Ross University School of Medicine, American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC) and Saba University School of Medicine]…that do have the ability to get federal loans. Private loans are usually not flexible with needing forbearance or have any of the income-based repayment options.' Hunt is willing to take on the expense, hoping the additional business degree he's pursuing and a book that he's working on will ultimately help him pay them back. 'I just wanted the school to see me for who I was and understand that I am a motivated and self-driven individual,' Hunt said, 'And that's what I got from being in the Caribbean.' 'They accepted me for who I was. They accepted me for my potential.'
The Sun
11-06-2025
- The Sun
Death row killer made chilling last hand gesture before being suffocated to death & left convulsing in 4 minute ordeal
A DEATH row killer was seen making a chilling last hand gesture before being executed by nitrogen gas. Gregory Hunt, 65, was strapped to a chair with a blue-rimmed mask covering his entire face before he was put to death at a south Alabama prison. Hunt, who was convicted of killing a woman in 1988, did not give any final words. However, he appeared to give a thumbs-up sign and a peace sign with his fingers shortly before prison authorities blasted nitrogen at his face. The method involves forcing an inmate to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive. Hunt was left convulsing for four minutes before authorities declared him dead. He briefly shook, gasped and raised his head off the chair. He then let out a moan and raised his feet. The killer took a series of gasping breaths with long pauses in between before dying. Prison authorities said the movements throughout the four-minute ordeal were expected. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said: "What I saw has been consistent with all the other nitrogen hypoxia executions. There is involuntary body movement." But critics say they show that the execution method does not provide a quick death. Hunt killed 32-year-old Karen Lane inside her own apartment in 1988 after dating her for about a month. Louisiana puts man to death in state s first nitrogen gas execution Prosecutors said that after becoming enraged with jealousy, he broke into Lane's apartment and sexually abused her and beat her to death, inflicting 60 injuries on her body. Jurors convicted him in 1990 and recommended a death sentence by an 11-1 vote. Lane's family, who also witnessed the execution, said that the night was not about Hunt's life but rather her horrific death. They said Hunt showed her no mercy in 1988 and savagely took Lane away from them. They added: "This is also not about closure or victory. This night represents justice and the end of a nightmare that has coursed through our family for 37 years." Hunt was among the longest-serving inmates on Alabama's death row. The US Supreme Court denied Hunt's request for a stay about three hours before the execution began. Hunt argued that prosecutors misled jurors about the evidence of sexual abuse, a claim the Alabama attorney general's office called meritless. On the day of his execution, he had a lunch tray that included bologna, black-eyed peas, carrots and fruit punch, prison officials said. Hunt declined to have a dinner meal. Last year, Alabama became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. The method has now been used in six executions, five in Alabama and one in Louisiana. Hunt selected nitrogen over the other options, lethal injection or the electric chair, before Alabama developed procedures for the method. Hunt's was one of two executions carried out Tuesday in the country. In Florida, Anthony Wainwright, 54, died by lethal injection for the April 1994 killing of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a nursing student and mother of two young children, in Lake City. US death penalty laws THE death penalty in the United States is governed by both federal and state laws. Its legality and application can vary depending on the jurisdiction. The federal government allows the death penalty for certain crimes such as terrorism, espionage, treason, large-scale drug trafficking, and murder of a federal official or law enforcement officer. The Federal Death Penalty Act (1994) provides the legal framework for death penalty procedures in federal cases, outlining offenses that are eligible for capital punishment and procedural protections for defendants. As of now, 24 states permit the death penalty, while 23 have abolished it or have moratoriums. Each state has its own laws regarding which crimes are punishable by death, usually limited to first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances (e.g., multiple murders, killing a police officer, or murder during a violent crime like robbery). Lethal injection is the most common method of execution across the U.S., but some states have alternative methods, such as the electric chair, gas chamber, hanging, or firing squad, as secondary options or by choice of the condemned. Some states have imposed moratoriums (temporary halts) on executions, such as California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, even though the death penalty remains legal in those states. There has been a growing trend toward abolition, as public opinion has shifted, concerns about wrongful convictions have arisen, and the costs of death penalty cases have increased. Death penalty cases involve a complex and lengthy appeals process, which includes automatic appeals to higher courts. This process is designed to ensure that convictions are accurate and that no constitutional rights were violated during the trial. Defendants in capital cases are afforded specific protections, such as the right to effective legal counsel and mental health evaluations.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Death row inmate made haunting final hand symbol before being executed for killing a woman
An Alabama man who was executed yesterday for the 1988 murder of a woman made a chilling final hand gesture before being put to death with nitrogen gas. Gregory Hunt, 65, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. on Tuesday at a south Alabama prison, authorities said, one of four scheduled this week in the United States. Hunt was convicted of capital murder for the killing of Karen Lane, who was 32 when she was killed on Aug. 2, 1988, in the Cordova apartment she shared with another woman in Walker County. Strapped to a gurney with a blue-rimmed mask covering his entire face, Hunt gave no final words but appeared to give a thumbs-up sign and a peace sign with his fingers. The gas began flowing sometime after 5:55 p.m., but it was not clear exactly when. At 5:57 p.m. Hunt briefly shook, gasped and raised his head off the gurney. He let out a moan at about 5:59 p.m. and raised his feet. He took a series of four or more gasping breaths with long pauses in between, and made no visible movements after 6:05 p.m. The shaking movements and gasps were similar to previous nitrogen executions in Alabama. The execution method involves forcing an inmate to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive. The state says the movements are expected, but critics say they show that the execution method does not provide a quick death. 'What I saw has been consistent with all the other nitrogen hypoxia executions. There is involuntary body movement,' Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said. Hunt had dated Lane for about a month. Prosecutors said that after becoming enraged with jealousy, he broke into Lane's apartment and sexually abused her and beat her to death, inflicting 60 injuries on her body. Jurors convicted him in 1990 and recommended a death sentence by an 11-1 vote. Several of Lane's relatives witnessed the execution, Hamm said. The family said in a statement that the night was not about Hunt's life but rather the 'horrific death of Karen Sanders Lane, whose life was so savagely taken from her.' They added that Hunt showed her no mercy in 1988. 'This is also not about closure or victory. This night represents justice and the end of a nightmare that has coursed through our family for 37 years,' the family said. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the execution 'a long-overdue moment of justice.' 'Karen was a young woman whose life was stolen in the most brutal and dehumanizing way imaginable,' Marshall said, adding, 'Gregory Hunt spent more time on death row than Karen spent alive.' Hunt was among the longest-serving inmates on Alabama's death row. He told The Associated Press last month that finding religion in prison helped him get 'free of my poisons and demons' and that he tried to help other inmates. He led a weekly Bible class since 1998, he said. 'Just trying to be a light in a dark place, trying to tell people if I can change, they can too ... become people of love instead of hate,' he said. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Hunt's request for a stay about three hours before the execution began. Hunt argued that prosecutors misled jurors about the evidence of sexual abuse, a claim the Alabama attorney general's office called meritless. Hunt declined to have a dinner meal. On the day of his execution, he had a lunch tray that included bologna, black-eyed peas, carrots and fruit punch, prison officials said. The Rev. Jeff Hood, a death penalty opponent who worked with Hunt, expressed sadness over his execution. 'Greg Hunt was my friend. I am devastated that Alabama saw fit to kill him,' Hood said. Last year Alabama became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. The method has now been used in six executions — five in Alabama and one in Louisiana. Hunt selected nitrogen over the other options, lethal injection or the electric chair, before Alabama developed procedures for the method. Hunt's was o ne of two executions carried out Tuesday in the country. In Florida, Anthony Wainwright, 54, died by lethal injection for the April 1994 killing of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a nursing student and mother of two young children, in Lake City.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
2 men executed on same day: Anthony Wainwright in Florida, Gregory Hunt in Alabama
Two men were executed in the U.S. on Tuesday in what is now the nation's fourth double execution of the year. Florida executed Anthony Wainwright by lethal injection just after 6 p.m. ET for the 1994 rape and murder of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a married mother of two and nursing student who was kidnapped in broad daylight in a grocery store parking lot. Less than an hour later, Alabama used the controversial nitrogen gas method to execute Gregory Hunt for the 1988 rape and murder of 32-year-old Karen Lane, a woman he had been dating for a month. "It seems to me there's enough days in the year that executions shouldn't have to be stacked on top of each other," said the Rev. Jeff Hood, a death row spiritual adviser who has witnessed nine executions and said he had to make an "unfathomable" choice between whether to be in person to support Wainwright in Florida or Hunt in Alabama. He chose to be in the death chamber with Wainwright. The double executions - meaning inmates who were put to death on the same day but in different states - mark the nation's 20th and 21st executions of 2025. They come as the U.S. is on pace to put more inmates to death this year than any other in the past decade, though the nation is still far from its busiest execution year ever: 98 in 1999. Here's what you need to know about the executions. 'A remarkable development': States expanding their execution methods to firing squad, more Alabama executed Hunt by the controversial nitrogen gas method at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, and he was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. CT. It was the fifth nitrogen gas execution in the state since January 2024, and the sixth in the nation overall. When the curtains to the death chamber opened, Hunt was strapped to a gurney, wrapped in a white sheet and had a mask over his face, according to Alex Gladden, a witness to the execution for the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network. At 5:57 p.m., Hunt began gasping and lifted his head. Then his entire body began convulsing. He lifted his head again two minutes later before his head fell back and he groaned loudly, Gladden observed. Hunt's head continued to move and he kept gasping for several minutes before he appeared to take his last breath at 6:04 p.m. His left fist remained clenched long afterward. Witness accounts from the previous four nitrogen gas executions in Alabama describe "suffering, including conscious terror for several minutes, shaking, gasping, and other evidence of distress," Louisiana Chief District Judge Shelly Dick wrote in an opinion that temporarily blocked the nitrogen gas execution of Jessie Hoffman in her state in March. That violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment, inmate advocates say. The states using the method defend it as effective and constitutional, and one official in another state considering approving the method recently said that it may very well be painful, according to reporting by the Ohio Capital Journal. 'The Constitution doesn't guarantee a pain-free death," said Lou Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the Journal reported. 'We don't want to cause them unnecessary pain. ... But whatever they experience as part of an execution pales in comparison to the pain and suffering that they've inflicted on their victims.' Hunt, 65, was convicted of the "savage" rape and murder of Karen Lane, whom he had been dating for a month on Aug. 2, 1988. Hunt acknowledged killing Lane, saying it was a crime of passion driven by jealousy, but denied raping her − a contention refuted by the Alabama Attorney General's Office. "Make no mistake, this night is not about the life of Greg Hunt," Lane's family said in a statement after witnessing the execution. "This night is about the horrific death of Karen Sanders Lane, whose life was so savagely taken from her. Karen was shown no mercy. She was not given a second chance. Karen was shown no grace." They added that the execution "also not about closure or victory" but "represents justice and the end of a nightmare that has coursed through our family for 37 long years." Florida executed Wainwright by lethal injection, marking the state's sixth execution this year, more than any other state. Wainwright, who was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. ET, was convicted of the rape and murder of Carmen Gayheart, a married mother of two young children who was attacked in broad daylight in a grocery store parking lot in Lake City, Florida, on April 27, 1994. "To the family of Carmen Gayheart, I hope my death brings you peace and healing," Wainwright said in his last statement, according to his spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeff. Hood. Wainwright slammed his attorney as "Florida's worst" and the court system in Florida as "broken." "Please continue the fight. Because I can promise you they are not going to let up," he said to those fighting the death penalty. "They will continue to murder if we continue to let it happen." Wainwright spent most of his last words addressing his fiancée, Samantha Wainwright (who is using his last name). "You are the love of my life. I'm so blessed we found each other. The years we have spent together have been beyond wonderful, they've been downright magical," he said. "Love is stronger than death and I know our love will last for eternity." Gayheart's sister, Maria David, told USA TODAY that at the time of Gayheart's murder, she had just moved her family into the dream home they built themselves in the tiny northern Florida town of Fort White. "She loved animals, she loved people, she loved her children, she loved her husband," David said. "She was building something beautiful." David planned on being front and center at Wainwright's execution for "accountability" and because her heartbroken parents couldn't. Her father died in 2013, and her mother died in 2023. "I look a lot like my sister," she said ahead of the execution. "I'm hoping that he sees a glimpse of Carmen one more time before he goes to where he's going." In his appeal filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, Wainwright's attorneys argued, among other points, that the Florida Supreme Court failed to consider new evidence that the 54-year-old suffered from "transgenerational exposure to Agent Orange through his father's combat service in the Vietnam War." About Wainwright's state of mind approaching his death, the Rev. Jeff Hood said that he was "very afraid of being executed. Who was Carmen Gayheart? Mom murdered after grocery store run was building a beautiful life Tuesday's double execution is far from unprecedented. It happened three times already this year and twice in 2024. May 20, 2025: Indiana executed Benjamin Ritchie for the 2000 fatal shooting of Officer Bill Tomey, who had just turned 32 the previous day and was a married father of two girls. Later that day, Texas executed Matthew Johnson for the murder of 76-year-old Nancy Judith Harris, a beloved grandmother he set on fire. March 20, 2025: Oklahoma executed Wendell Grissom for the murder of 23-year-old Amber Matthews in front of her best friend's two young daughters in 2005. About nine hours later, Florida executed Edward Thomas James for the 1993 murders of 58-year-old Elizabeth "Betty" Dick and her 8-year-old granddaughter, Toni Neuner, who was raped. Feb. 13, 2025: Florida executed James Dennis Ford for the savage murders of two young parents, Gregory and Kimberly Malnory, in front of their toddler daughter in 1997. An hour after Ford's death, Texas executed Death Row inmate Richard Lee Tabler for fatally shooting four people in what he described as a fit of rage in 2004. Sept. 26, 2004: Oklahoma executed Emmanuel Littlejohn for the 1992 shooting death of beloved convenience store owner Kenneth Meers, despite a recommendation from a clemency board that his life should be spared. Later that day, Alabama executed Alan Eugene Miller for the 1999 shooting deaths of his three coworkers, whom he believed were spreading rumors about his sexuality. Sept. 24, 2004: Missouri executed Marcellus Williams for the 1998 killing of a former newspaper reporter named Lisha Gayle despite his strong claims of innocence and over the objections of both a key prosecutor in the case, the victim's family, and three Supreme Court justices who said they would have granted him a stay. Less than an hour later, Texas executed Travis James Mullis for killing his 3-month-old son, Alijah, in 2008. Experts say the scheduling of two executions on the same day appears to be purely coincidental, largely because most executions are held between Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contributing: James Powel, USA TODAY, Alex Gladden, the Montgomery Advertiser Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Double execution: Anthony Wainwright, Gregory Hunt put to death
Al Arabiya
11-06-2025
- Al Arabiya
Two death row inmates executed in Alabama, Florida
An Alabama man who murdered his girlfriend was put to death by nitrogen gas on Tuesday, with another man executed by lethal injection in the US state of Florida. Gregory Hunt, 65, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. Central Time (2323 GMT) at the Alabama state prison in Atmore. He was executed by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate. It was the fifth execution in the southern US state using nitrogen gas, which has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane. Only one other US state, Louisiana, has used this method. Hunt was convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of 32-year-old Karen Lane, whom he had been dating for a month. In Florida, Anthony Wainwright, 54, was put to death by lethal injection at 6:22 p.m. Eastern Time (2222 GMT) at the Florida state prison in Raiford. Wainwright was convicted of the 1994 rape and murder of Carmen Gayheart, a 23-year-old nursing student and mother of two young children. Wainwright and an accomplice, Richard Hamilton, abducted Gayheart three days after escaping from a prison in North Carolina. Hamilton was also sentenced to death for Gayheart's murder but died in prison. A third execution this week is scheduled to take place on Thursday in Oklahoma, where John Hanson, 61, is to be put to death for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of Mary Bowles, 77. Hanson's execution has been temporarily put on hold by a judge amid claims his rights were violated during a clemency hearing. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has asked an appeals court to lift the stay to allow the execution to go ahead. The fourth execution this week is to be carried out in South Carolina, where Stephen Stanko, 57, is to be put to death by lethal injection. Stanko was convicted of the 2005 murders of his girlfriend, 43-year-old Laura Ling, and Henry Turner, a 74-year-old friend. There have been 21 executions in the United States this year: 16 by lethal injection, two by firing squad, and three using nitrogen gas. The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others—California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania—have moratoriums in place. President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use 'for the vilest crimes.'
