Anish Vij
The man responsible for the rape and murder of 16-year-old girl has been executed by lethal injection.
Thomas Edwin Loden Jr has been on death row since 2001 after pleading guilty for the murder, rape and four counts of sexual battery against Leesa Marie Gray.
In June 2000, the teenager was stranded with a flat tire in northeast Mississippi, when Loden forcefully took her into his van.
“Don’t worry. I’m a Marine. We do this kind of stuff,” he earlier said to her, according to court records.
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He spent four hours sexually assaulting her.
The Marine Cops recruiter confessed that he then strangled and suffocated the teenage girl.
After the horrific act took place, Loden was found lying on the side of a road with the words 'I'm sorry' carved into his chest.
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Just before receiving his lethal injection at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, on Wednesday (14 December), the 58-year-old said he was 'deeply remorseful'.
“For the past 20 years, I’ve tried to do a good deed every single day to make up for the life I took from this world,” he said.
“I know these are mere words and cannot erase the damage I did.
“If today brings you nothing else, I hope you get peace and closure.”
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His last meal was two bone-in fried pork chops, fried okra, a baked sweet potato with butter, Pillsbury Grands biscuits with butter and molasses, peach cobbler with French vanilla ice cream and Lipton sweet tea.
"He has a full belly because he ate a lot," MDOC Commissioner Nathan "Burl" Cain, said at a Wednesday news conference.
"He liked the okra, he liked the pork chops… I believe he ate every bit of it."
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"He has expressed some remorse," Deputy Commissioner of Institutions Jeworski Mallett said.
"We spoke with him at 12:45 p.m. and he was remorseful to the family."
Loden was pronounced dead on Wednesday at 6:12pm local time.
Leesa Marie's mother, Wanda Farris, said the teenage girl was a 'happy-go-lucky, always smiling' person, who aspired to become an elementary school teacher.
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“That’s what I most remember her by, is her smile. She loved life and she was a good Christian girl,” the mother said.
“She wasn’t perfect, now, mind you. But she strived to do right.”
Last week, Ms Farris said: “I don’t particularly want to see somebody die.
“But I do believe in the death penalty. I do believe in justice.”
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If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 802 9999 between 12pm–2.30pm and 7pm– 9.30pm every day. Alternatively, you can contact Victim Support free on 08 08 16 89 111 available 24/7, every day of the year, including Christmas