Hart Turner’s execution is back on for 6 p.m. today at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman.
The 38-year-old from Greenwood had been originally scheduled to die by lethal injection today, but on Monday a federal judge had delayed the execution pending a decision about Turner’s access to a psychiatrist.
But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans today rescheduled the execution for today, according to Suzanne Singletary, a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
“As of this moment, we’re proceeding,” Singletary said at about 10:30 this morning.
Attorney General Jim Hood had asked the 5th Circuit Tuesday to reverse the order that was temporarily blocking the execution of Turner.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves in Jackson blocked the execution until Feb. 20.
Turner’s lawyer, James Craig, persuaded Reeves to temporarily block the execution after arguing that a Mississippi Department of Corrections policy prevented Turner from getting tests that could prove he’s mentally ill.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that mentally retarded people cannot be executed but has not made such a ruling for those with mental illnesses.
Turner killed Everett Curry, 38, of Greenwood and Eddie Brooks, 37, of North Carrollton during a robbery spree at two Carroll County convenience stores on Dec. 13, 1995.
Turner and Murrell Stewart, a 17-year-old from Greenwood, drove around Leflore and Carroll counties drinking beer and smoking marijuana prior to the killings. Turner had been ordered not to drink after being released from Whitfield on Prozac after at least his second suicide attempt earlier in 1995.
Turner’s face is disfigured from a 1991 attempt to kill himself in his driveway on Poplar Street.
Stewart pleaded guilty and received a life sentence in exchange for testifying against Turner. The trial was moved to Hattiesburg because of the amount of publicity in Carroll County. A jury convicted Turner and sentenced him to death.
He exhausted all his appeals when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear it in January.
• Contact Charlie Smith at 581-7235 or csmith @gwcommonwealth.com.
