On Thursday, a Tennessee inmate on death row met his fate via lethal injection, with his final words directed at a long-lost son who was there to witness the somber moment.
Anthony Hines, 66, shortly before his execution for the brutal 1985 murder of 54-year-old mother of four Catherine Jean Jenkins, reportedly told this son, “Say ‘hello’ to my son,” as per the Associated Press.
Hines and his son had a poignant reunion just four days before the execution, having last seen each other when the boy was merely three. Their meeting took place at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution located in Nashville.
Witnesses noted that Hines appeared to struggle, making groaning sounds and breathing heavily before he was declared dead at precisely 10:43 a.m.
Among those present was Dennis Jenkins, the son of the victim, who expressed a wish that Hines would experience “severe pain” during his final moments.
Dennis said his mother had only a plastic spray bottle to defend herself when she was murdered by Hines.
HInes was convicted of fatally stabbing Jenkins while she was working as a motel maid in Kingston Springs.
“I hope he felt severe pain because what he did to my mother is nothing compared to what he may have just gone through,” Dennis said of Hines.
Hines had unsuccessfully appealed his sentence, claiming the doctor overseeing the execution was incompetent and likely to botch the procedure.
Three inmates were put to death Thursday — marking the first triple execution in the United States in 16 years.
Murderers on death row in Oklahoma and Alabama were also executed through lethal injection.
Typically, there is only one execution scheduled per day, with two executions being rare — but three is “very unusual,” Death Penalty Information Center Executive Director Robin Maher told USA Today.
Death penalty observers say that double or triple executions are purely coincidental timing.