For the first time in over 50 years, the military is preparing to execute a member of the armed forces. Ronald Gray has been on death row since 2008 when George W Bush signed off on the death penalty for Gray’s crimes. Gray committed four murders and eight rapes. He has had multiple stays of execution and is one of only six service members on death row. The most notorious is Nidal Hassan, the Ft Hood shooter who killed 13 and wounded another 42.
Gray could be executed at the United States Penitentiary, which is located in Terre Haute, Indiana, and the method would be by lethal injection.
“This is life-changing news,” Honey Rosalie Schlehuber, the sister of one of Gray’s victims, told The Fayetteville Observer.
“He ruined our family’s lives. We’ve been through so much,” she added. “He needs to go and meet his maker. He needs to pay for what he’s done.”
Former President George W. Bush approved the death penalty for Gray in 2008. The matter has been tied up in the courts until now.
No execution date has yet been set, but it’s possible one could be set for the future within the next 30 days.