Board recommends clemency denial for 2 Arkansas death-row inmates

This combination of undated file photos provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmates Stacey E. Johnson, left, and Ledell Lee. Both men are scheduled for execution April 20.
This combination of undated file photos provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows death-row inmates Stacey E. Johnson, left, and Ledell Lee. Both men are scheduled for execution April 20.

The Arkansas Parole Board on Monday recommended to Gov. Asa Hutchinson that clemency be denied for two inmates on death row.

Stacey Johnson, 47, and Ledell Lee, 51, are set to die by lethal injection next month. Each made their case Friday before the panel in an attempt to avoid death.

In a release, the parole board said Johnson’s sentence was “not excessive.” Members said Lee’s clemency request should be denied based on the existence of multiple victims.

“Injustice alleged not sustained,” the panel cited in its recommendations for each, also noting the “nature and seriousness” of both crimes.

Arkansas has not carried out an execution since 2005. Five of the eight inmates currently scheduled for executions have asked the Parole Board to spare their lives. Johnson and Lee are set to die April 20. Other double executions are set for April 17, April 24 and April 27.

The eight inmates asked a federal judge earlier Monday to block the state's unprecedented plan, arguing that the state's planned use of the controversial sedative midazolam and the rushed schedule violates their constitutional rights. The state's current stock of midazolam expires at the end of April.

Johnson was convicted in the 1993 death of Carol Heath, who was beaten, strangled and had her throat slit.

Lee was sentenced in the killing of Debra Reese, who was beaten to death in her home with a tire iron in 1993.

Read Tuesday’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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