After convicted killer’s reversal, motion for quick execution tossed by Mississippi Supreme Court
Published 4:39 pm Tuesday, May 24, 2022
A convicted Mississippi killer’s effort to get his execution quickly scheduled has been dismissed by the state’s Supreme Court, weeks after the condemned man changed his mind.
Blayde Nathaniel Grayson, 46, filed a handwritten letter to the high court in December requesting that his execution for a 1996 killing be set immediately.
“I ask to see that my execution should be carried out forthwith,” Grayson’s letter said.
Days later, Grayson’s lawyer moved to withdraw that request, noting that Grayson still had a federal appeal pending.
The Supreme Court ordered a state district court to get a statement from Grayson as to whether he wanted to waive appeals and have his execution date set. In April, Grayson told a judge, under oath, that he wanted to continue his appeals.
In a ruling dated Friday, the Supreme Court formally dismissed his motion for a quick execution.
Grayson was convicted of capital murder in 1997 for the stabbing death the previous year of 78-year-old Minnie Smith during a home burglary in south Mississippi’s George County.