Nicholas Sutton thanked his family, friends and God before he was executed by electric chair Thursday night.
Sutton was sentenced to death in 1986 for killing a fellow inmate while in prison for three other murders he committed as a teen.
Sutton is the seventh person executed in Tennessee since the end of a nine-year hiatus in 2018. He’s the fifth to choose the electrocution, after a lawsuit raised concerns about the state’s lethal injection protocol.
In his final hours before facing the electric chair, Nicholas Sutton sipped a cup of Welch’s grape juice and nibbled a wafer for his last holy communion.
Sutton ate his last meal — fried pork chops, mashed potatoes and peach pie with vanilla ice cream — and exchanged a few words with his spiritual adviser and attorney.
In the execution chamber, witnesses said, Sutton gave a lengthy statement, ending with: “I’m just grateful to be a servant of God, and I’m looking forward to being in his presence.”
Shortly after 7:15 p.m., two bolts of electricity coursed through Sutton’s body. He was pronounced dead at 7:26.
At a press conference outside Riverbend prison streamed by the Tennessean, Sutton’s attorney Stephen Ferrell read Sutton’s final statement: “Don’t ever give up on the ability of Jesus Christ to fix someone or any problem. He can fix anything. Don’t ever underestimate his ability. He has made my life meaningful and fruitful through my relationships with family and friends. So, even in my death, I am coming out a winner.”
More than a dozen correctional officers, jurors and relatives of his victims had asked Gov. Bill Lee to spare Sutton’s life, citing his rehabilitation in prison and devotion to his faith. They said the man who had once taken lives saved five others while incarcerated.
The relatives of Carl Estep, whose murder resulted in Sutton’s death sentence, did not attend the execution. Amy Large Cook, whose brother, John Cook, was killed, was the only victim at the prison Thursday night.
In a statement read by spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction, Cook said that she would never forgive Sutton.
“My prayers are also with the other victims’ families today. I hope that they will be able to have peace and closure,” she said. “I don’t know that I will ever have complete closure. But, like a friend of mine said, ‘At least that chapter will be over.'”
Samantha Max is a Report for America corps member.
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