Robert Stacy Yarbrough was put to death.

Robert Stacy Yarbrough was put to death.

Robert Stacy Yarbrough was the 100th Execution in Virginia since 1976 when the US Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment.

Yarbrough was convicted of killing a convenience store clerk. Yarbrough nearly beheaded the clerk

Yarbrough, 30, died by lethal injection. He was at the Greensville Correctional Center. He was pronounced dead at 9:28 p.m.

His last words were, "Tell my kids I love them, and let's get it over with," said Larry Traylor, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections.

Virginia Governor Kaine declined yesterday to block Yarbrough's execution, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene.

In a statement, Kaine said: "The trial, verdict, and sentence have been reviewed in detail by various state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of Virginia, a United States Magistrate, a United States District Court Judge, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The Supreme Court of the United States also has denied Yarbrough's petition for review."

Kaine continued: "Having carefully reviewed the Petition for Clemency and judicial opinions regarding this case, I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was recommended by the jury, and then imposed and affirmed by the courts. Accordingly, I decline to intervene."

After Yarbrough died, state Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R) said: "Tonight, justice has been served. Our thoughts and prayers remain with [the victim's] children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and all his friends and family."

Attorneys for Yarbrough declined to comment. They had said the execution should have been stopped because Yarbrough's trial lawyers should have challenged the DNA evidence used to convict him and should have presented evidence that he was neglected as a child.

Yarbrough was convicted in the 1997 slaying of Cyril Hugh Hamby, 77, in Mecklenburg County. Yarbrough and a former high school classmate tied Hamby's hands behind his back with an extension cord, and Yarbrough cut Hamby's neck in a sawing motion at least 10 times as Hamby pleaded for him to stop.

Hamby bled to death, and the state medical examiner said his wounds were consistent with an attempted beheading.