A Missouri man who was convicted of fatally shooting a state trooper 20 years ago was executed Tuesday.
Lance Shockley, 48, died by lethal injection shortly after 6 p.m. at the state prison in Bonne Terre.
Shockley, who consistently claimed he was not guilty, was found guilty of murdering Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. of the Missouri State Highway Patrol in March 2005. The prosecutors argued that Shockley waited for several hours outside Graham’s residence in Van Buren and fatally shot him first with a rifle and then used a shotgun as the officer was leaving his patrol car.
In the execution chamber, Shockley’s head was raised on a pillow. He lifted his head to talk to relatives seated in the witness box on his left. A woman tried to communicate with him through the soundproof glass.
Lance Shockley, 48, died by lethal injection at the state prison in Bonne Terre. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP)
After about 90 seconds, Shockley laid his head back on the pillow and appeared to stop talking.
According to prison records, Shockley was visited by his two daughters and a friend on the morning of his execution. His last meal included three packs of oatmeal, peanut butter, water, and two sports drinks.
In a final written statement, Shockley quoted a scripture from the Book of John in the Bible: “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
Shockley’s appeals and requests for a new trial were all denied. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeals earlier on Tuesday.
On Monday, Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe denied his request for clemency.
“Acts of violence against those who dedicate themselves daily to safeguarding our communities will not be tolerated. Missouri stands in solidarity with our law enforcement officers,” Kehoe remarked in a statement.
After the funeral service on March 24, 2005, in Dexter, Missouri, members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol honored their colleague, Sgt. Carl ”Dewayne” Graham Jr., by saluting his body. (AP)
Shockley was convicted in March 2009 and sentenced to death two months later. Prosecutors said he killed Sergeant Graham because he was investigating Shockley for involuntary manslaughter after he left the scene of a deadly accident that killed his best friend.
One of Shockley’s attorneys, Jeremy Weis, said prosecutors failed to show direct evidence connecting his client to the killing.
“The state’s case remained circumstantial,” Weis said last week while discussing the case at the University of Missouri School of Law. “The murder weapons were never found. There were disagreements between the ballistics experts hired by the prosecution.”
Witnesses placed Shockley about 14 miles from Graham’s home when prosecutors said he was waiting near the trooper’s residence.
Lance Shockley was convicted in March 2009, and he was sentenced to death two months later. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Prosecutors countered that Shockley had asked where Graham lived before the killing and tried to dispose of a box of .243-caliber ammunition around the time of the crime, according to court documents.
Shockley is the first person executed in Missouri this year, with no other executions scheduled for the remainder of 2025. The state’s last execution was carried out on Dec. 3, 2024, when Christopher Collings was put to death for the sexual assault and killing of a 9-year-old girl.
Shockley was one of two people executed in the U.S. on Tuesday. Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, died by lethal injection in Florida for the killings of two women whose bodies were found in a pond in 1996, extending the Sunshine State’s already record number of executions for the year to 14.
