NASHVILLE – The death sentence of Stephen West was executed by means of electrocution on Thursday evening.
The sentence was carried out at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. West was pronounced dead at 7:27 p.m.
It is the state’s third electric chair execution since November. Inmates who chose the electric chair had participated in lawsuits challenging Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol.
His last words, as he started to cry, were “In the beginning, God created man. And Jesus wept. That’s all.”
West received his final meal at 4:00 p.m. He selected a Philly cheesesteak and French fries.
West was convicted of the 1986 kidnapping and stabbing deaths of 51-year-old Wanda Romines and her 15-year-old daughter, Sheila Romines, and of raping the teen.
Witnesses spoke to the media following the execution, saying he appeared to die quickly.
