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February 8, 2023

Missouri Executes Raheem Taylor Despite Claims of Innocence and Calls for a Stay
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In Missouri, Leonard "Raheem" Taylor was executed Tuesday by lethal
injection after Governor Mike Parson refused to grant him clemency or a
stay, despite calls from the Innocence Project, the NAACP and others.
Fifty-eight-year-old Taylor had always maintained his innocence,
asserting he was nearly 2,000 miles away at the time of the quadruple
murder of his then-girlfriend and her children in 2004. The Innocence
Project also raised concerns about the competence of the lawyer who
represented him at trial.

In a final statement, Taylor wrote, "Muslims don't die. We live
eternally in the hearts of our family and friends." Taylor is the third
person to be executed in Missouri since November and the fifth person to
be executed in the U.S. this year.


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