A Missouri teenager is petitioning a federal court to let her watch her father be executed via lethal injection.
State law in Missouri bars anyone below the age of 21 from watching an execution be carried out, but 19-year-old Khorry Ramey wants to see her father, Kevin Johnson, executed on Nov. 29, according to a report.
Johnson was sentenced to death for the 2005 killing of Kirkwood police officer William McEntee, and his attorneys have filed multiple appeals to spare his life.
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These include a claim that racism was a motive behind Johnson’s death sentence and a history of mental illness.
However, the execution is expected to be carried out, according to a court filing from the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, which argued there were zero grounds for intervention.
BREAKING: We’re filing an emergency lawsuit on behalf of 19-year-old Khorry Ramey so she can be a witness at her father’s execution on November 29th.
Missouri state law bars people under 21 from witnessing an execution — denying Khorry the chance to say goodbye to her dad. pic.twitter.com/LnFa3bztyN— ACLU of Missouri (@aclu_mo) November 21, 2022
“The surviving victims of Johnson’s crimes have waited long enough for justice, and every day longer that they must wait is a day they are denied the chance to finally make peace with their loss,” the petition stated.
Ramey says if she is barred from witnessing her father’s death, it will violate her constitutional rights.
Johnson is “the most important person in my life,” she said. “If my father were dying in the hospital, I would sit by his bed holding his hand and praying for him until his death, both as a source of support for him, and as a support for me as a necessary part of my grieving process and for my peace of mind.”
There is no intrinsic safety reason for barring her, an emergency motion filed by the American Civil Liberties Union read.
Johnson, 37, was sent to prison when Ramey was 2, but the two have bonded through calls, emails, letters, and visits, according to the ACLU.
Last month, Ramey introduced her newborn to the child’s grandfather, the report noted.
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Ramey will be caused “irreparable harm” if she is unable to attend her father’s death, ACLU attorney Anthony Rothert said.
