SC Man Stephen Stanko dies of deadly injection, convicted of killing friend and girlfriend

A man convicted of two murders was executed in South Carolina through fatal injection.

Stephen Stanko, 57, was pronounced dead at 18:34 local time on Friday June 13, according to one statement Released by South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC). Stanko had been sentenced to death for crimes he committed in April 2005 in Horry and Georgetown counties, according to the statement.

On April 8, 2005, Stanko “bound, struck and suffocated his girlfriend, Laura Ling, to death while he beat and raped his daughter, who was a minor, in their Murrell’s Inlet home,” continued the statement.

Stanko then drove to the home to a friend, 74-year-old Henry Lee Turner, where he shot and killed the man before stealing his car. Stanko fled and arrested several days later in Georgia, according to SCDC.

Stanko was originally sentenced in Georgetown County in 2006 for the first degree murder for the death of Ling, as well as kidnapping and armed robbery. He was also convicted of “kidnapping, first degree criminal sexual behavior and abuse and battery with the intention of killing” for Ling’s teenage daughter, according to the statement.

He was later sentenced in Horry County in 2009 for the murder and armed robbery in Turner’s death. He was sentenced to death for both murders, according to SCDC.

Stanko’s final statement was read by his lawyer before his execution. In his statement, which was provided to the public by SCDC, he apologized to the victims’ families.

“I am really sorry for the pain and loss that I caused in this horrible situation. Sorry will never be enough, but that does not mean it should not be said. Not a single day – not a single day – has passed that Christina, Laura and Henry have not been in my thoughts and prayers. If my execution helps with the closing and/or the sad process, they can all go on “If you have read.

Stanko went on to say that he was more than his beliefs and stated that he was once a “an honorary student and an athlete”, and that he also voluntarily worked in an orphanage and as a coach.

“I’m not saying this to boast. I say it because I wasn’t what people see me as now – at this moment,” he said.

“I have lived about twenty thousand nine hundred seventy days, but I am judged only for one,” Stanko concluded his statement.

Do you want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Register People’s free real crime news letter To break crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of exciting unresolved cases.

At the time of his execution, Stanko was administered two doses of the powerful soothing pentobarbital, according to Associated Press.

An AP journalist who was present during the execution said that Stanko seemed to say something unwanted after he was administered the drug. He then turned to family members to the victims who were present and released several quick breaths before he dies. He was pronounced dead about 28 minutes after the execution began, according to the outlet.

Stanko’s execution marked the sixth execution in South Carolina in nine months. Stanko reportedly considered to die by shooting the squad, but chose fatal injection after concern that volunteers had Missed the heart of a prisoner During a previous execution by shooting the squad, potentially extending his suffering, per ap.

For his last meal, Stanko requested fried fish, fried shrimp, crab cake, baked potatoes, carrots, fried okra, cherry pie, banana pudding and sweet tea, according to SCDC.