Mississippi mom is set to see the execution of the man sentenced for the rape and murder of her 16-year-old daughter about 22 years ago. The killer took her daughter’s life on a Wednesday, reported Oxygen.
The mother of the slain victim, Wanda Farris; Leesa Gray, was seen as happy-go-lucky and smiling all the time; as noted by Associated Press.
She added that her daughter always smiled and loved life, also a good Christian girl.
Last hours alive were horrific
On June 22, 2000, the victim had her car stranded due to a flat tire on a country road; it was supposed to be her senior year of high school.
She kept a job at her uncle’s restaurant in north Mississippi’s Itawamba County when she got a flat driving home then.
Her killer, Marine Corps recruiter Thomas Edwin Loden Jr., 58, was along the road and came upon her at 10:45 pm; then took her in the van he drove.
He told the detectives that he tortured Leesa for four hours by raping and sexually battering her. It ended by strangling her till she died.
Relatives told an outlet they saw the car later with her wallet inside, with hazard lights flashing, according to the AP.
Pleads guilty to the murder
Loren admitted to capital murder and acts of rape, with four counts of sexual battery in September of 2001. He took time to tell friends and family of the deceased a few words, hoping they have closure.
But Ms. Farris last Friday remarked the apology was not real but fake. She added that no one should die, but the death penalty is justice for the bereaved.
Loren has been on death row for the last 21 years and will get the lethal injection for the rape and murder of a 16-year-old daughter in the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. The witness Mississippi mom is the witness who raped and murdered her 16-year-old daughter
