ATMORE, Ala. -- A man convicted of killing three people during the 1994 robbery of an Alabama fast-food restaurant was put to death Thursday by lethal injection.
Robert Melson, 46, was pronounced dead at 10:27 p.m. Thursday at a southwest Alabama prison, authorities said.
State prosecutors said Melson and another man, who used to work at the restaurant, robbed a Popeyes in Gadsden, 60 miles northeast of Birmingham, and Melson opened fire on four employees in the restaurant's freezer. Nathaniel Baker, Tamika Collins and Darrell Collier were killed. The surviving employee, Bryant Archer, crawled for help and was able to identify one of the robbers as the former worker, which led police to Melson.
Collins' family issued a statement saying that three young people lost their lives for "a few hundred dollars" and criticized court filings on behalf of Melson that challenged the state's execution procedure as inhumane. Collins' mother and two sisters witnessed the execution.
Melson's attorneys had filed a flurry of last-minute appeals seeking to stay the execution. The filings centered on Alabama's use of the sedative midazolam, which some states, including Arkansas, use as part of a cocktail of execution drugs.
A Section on 06/09/2017