Brandon Bernard, a 40-year-old Black man sentenced to death at aged 18, was killed on Thursday by the federal government. He was pronounced dead at 9:27 p.m. and is the youngest person executed by the federal government in nearly 70 years and the ninth prisoner put to death since the current administration resumed executions in July following a 17-year hiatus (article available here). With his last words, Bernard spoke to the family of the victims, "I'm sorry. That's the only words that I can say that completely capture how I feel now and how I felt that day."
The execution came shortly after the Supreme Court denied Bernard's application for a stay of execution. His attorneys sought to appeal his case based on allegations that prosecutors withheld evidence they said may have spared their client the death penalty.
Angela Moore, a former federal prosecutor involved in the case, also called for Bernard to be spared the death sentence and serve a sentence of life imprisonment. "Having learned so much since 2000 about the maturation of the human brain and having seen Brandon grow into a humble, remorseful adult fully capable of living peacefully in prison, how can we say he is among that tiny group of offenders who must be put to death?" She added, "I always took pride in representing the United States as a federal prosecutor, and I think executing Brandon would be a terrible stain on the nation's honor."
Five of the surviving nine jurors have called for the president to commute Bernard's death sentence.
Tens of thousands of other people have urged the president to grant Bernard clemency, including Senators Richard J Durbin and Cory Brooker.
On Thursday, attorneys Allen Dershowitz and Ken Starr also joined his defense team and submitted a petition with the Supreme Court requesting a delay in the execution for two weeks. The Supreme Court denied the request.
Alfred Bourgeois, 56, is set to be executed Friday.