Mentally-disabled African American executed in US

An African American prisoner has been executed in the United States despite being mentally disabled, according to his lawyers.

Warren Lee Hill was put to death by injection of a single drug at a prison in Jackson, Georgia, on Tuesday.

The 54-year-old, convicted of killing a fellow inmate, was pronounced dead at 7:55 pm local time.

The execution came despite last-minute efforts by Hill’s lawyers to get the US Supreme Court to prevent the move, against which temporary reprieves had been granted by different on three previous occasions.

Hill’s lawyers have long argued that the man, initially given a life term for killing his girlfriend, has been intellectually disabled throughout his life.

In an emailed statement prior to the execution, Brian Kammer, a lawyer for Hill, said "The clemency board missed an opportunity to right a grave wrong", and “It is now up to the US Supreme Court to ensure that an unconstitutional execution of a man with lifelong intellectual disability is prevented."

Finally, the Supreme Court denied the allegations and refused to halt the execution.

Hill beat a fellow prisoner to death back in 1990.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the racial ratio of the victims of the death penalty in the US has been striking since the revival of the practice in 1976, with the penalty being disproportionately imposed on blacks and ethnic minorities.

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