Washington, December 10: The USA on Thursday executed Brandon Bernard, 20 years after he was convicted for carjacking and murdering two youth ministers in Texas. "The United States executed convicted felon Brandon Bernard on Thursday, despite objections by some of the jurors in his trial who pleaded with the Trump administration to show mercy, " informed the federal Bureau of Prisons. World News | US Set to Execute 1st of 5 Inmates Before Biden Inauguration.

Bernard along with his accomplice, Christopher Vialva were conviucted 2000 of carjacking and murdering Todd and Stacie Bagley, married Christian youth ministers from Iowa, on the Fort Hood army base in Texas. He was merely 18 years old then. According to the reports, Vialva kidnapped and shot the couple at close range as they lay inside the trunk of the car and Bernard set the car on fire afterwards.  World News | US Government to Execute First Woman Since 1953.

"I'm sorry," said Bernard shortly before his execution, as quoted by a media witness. "That's the only words that I can say that completely capture how I feel now and how I felt that day," he said before execution. His accomplice Christopher Vialva was executed on September 24 this year.

Bernard had earlier filed a clemency petition, which was backed by five jurors from his trial. The jurors said that Bernard's lawyers did a poor job defending him at trial. Adding that Bernard did not seem to have intended to kill the Bagleys. However they maintained that Vialva and Bernard were both guilty.

The USA Supreme Court on Thrusday refused to put a stay on his execution. "Today, the court allows the federal government to execute Brandon Bernard, despite Bernard's troubling allegations that the government secured his death sentence by withholding exculpatory evidence and knowingly eliciting false testimony against him," wrote Justice Sonia Sotomayor while addressing the issue.

Attorneys for Bernard say that through their own investigation, they discovered prosecutors withheld crucial information that could have proven Bernard was a low-level member of a youth gang, making him less of a threat in the future to re-offend. "Brandon made one terrible mistake at age 18. But he did not kill anyone, and he never stopped feeling shame and profound remorse for his actions," said Robert Owen, Bernard's attorney reportedly.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 11, 2020 01:50 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).