Clay King Smith was executed by the State of Arkansas

Arkansas

Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

 for the March 25, 1998 murders of Misty Erwin (age 20), Shelley Sorg (24), Sean Sorg (5), Taylor Sorg (3), and Samantha Rhodes (12) at his home near Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Pine Bluff, Arkansas

Pine Bluff is the largest city and county seat of Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States. It is also the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff, Arkansas Combined Statistical Area...

.

The murders

Smith’s girlfriend, Misty Erwin, reported that Smith battered her and requested police assistance to move out of the house. However, when she arrived, she withdrew her complaint and decided to stay with Smith. Two days later her body was found in the house along with a cousin, two small children, and a babysitter. All were shot to death with a rifle.

Smith was arrested the day after the bodies were discovered. His capture followed a shootout with authorities near Star City in Lincoln County, Arkansas

Lincoln County, Arkansas

Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas and is included in the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population is 14,134. The county seat is Star City. Lincoln County is Arkansas's 65th county, formed on March 28, 1871, and named for Abraham Lincoln,...

. Smith fled into a wooded area when police tracked him down at a house, a local hunting club. Smith held police at bay for an hour with a rifle, which later proved to be the murder weapon. He was shot in an arm after he refused to put down the rifle. During the stand-off, he yelled at the police, "I sent three of them to Heaven; I don't know where the other two went." Smith made several admissions during the stand-off, until he was shot in the arm by police. He claimed that the murders were drug-induced.

Appeals

Smith quickly waived all rights to appeal his sentence. A judge ruled in November 1999 that Smith was competent enough to waive his appeal rights. At the hearing, Smith told the court he was sorry for the pain he had caused and added, "I don't want to do any more harm."

Jefferson County Circuit Judge H.A. Taylor said Smith had knowingly waived his appeal and understood the implications. The Arkansas Supreme Court

Arkansas Supreme Court

The Arkansas Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Arkansas. Since 1925, it has consisted of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices, and at times Special Justices are called upon in the absence of a regular justice...

, in a routine review of death-row cases, affirmed Smith's convictions. The justices allow inmates to drop their appeals if they demonstrate that they know what might happen. Smith said he made the decision because he didn't want to put his family or the victims' families through a lengthy appeal process. Smith was the third consecutive death row inmate to waive at least part of his appeal rights.

Execution

Clay King Smith spent his final days writing letters. Smith wrote letters to the families of each of his victims asking for forgiveness and telling them he would waive his right to appeal unless they asked him to do otherwise. No one did.

In a letter dated April 22, Smith told Misty Erwin's father, Randy, her mother Lula, and her three sisters, Tabitha, Margo and Francis, that he was waiving his right to appeals so that they could move on with their lives. "You don't need to keep reliving what happened over and over and that's what appeals would do," Smith wrote. "If you all want me to appeal you should let me know and I will. Otherwise, I'm going home to be with Jesus. I can hardly wait. I believe I am going to see Misty there..."

In a brief final statement, while strapped to a gurney at the Cummins Correctional Unit, he spoke to four family members of his victims as they watched on a closed circuit television. "I'd like to say I'm sorry about what I did to the victims' families. I hope your hearts heal. I love my family. I love my family."

Smith was the 24th person executed by the State of Arkansas since Furman v. Georgia

Furman v. Georgia

Furman v. Georgia, was a United States Supreme Court decision that ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. The case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was...

, , after new capital punishment laws were passed in Arkansas that came into force on March 23, 1973.