Death Row inmate made extravagant request for last meal of 11 different items before being killed
A death row inmate ordered an extravagant 11-item final meal, including steak, lobster and strawberry milkshake.
Ray Jefferson Cromartie was given the death penalty for the 1994 murder of convenience store worker Richard Slysz in Thomasville, near the Georgia-Florida line.
Cromartie and his accomplice Corey Clark asked Thaddeus Lucas to take them to the Junior Food Store on 10 April, where Cromartie shot Slysz twice in the head. The two men were unable to open the cash register, so the two fled the scene after Cromartie grabbed two 12-packs of beer.
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Just days before the fatal shooting, Cromartie had shot and severely wounded Dan Wilson, another convenience store worker.
At trial in 1997, Lucas and Clark testified against Cromartie, and each pleaded guilty to lesser charges. They were both given prison sentences, which they served and have since been released.
During the trial, Cromartie denied he had shot either clerk but was found guilty and given the death penalty.
Following his conviction Cromartie continued to protest his innocence and even attempted a last ditch request to stop his execution.
Among the requests was one for new DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene, which Cromartie’s lawyers claimed could help show he wasn’t the shooter.
Slysz’s daughter, Elizabeth Legette, had supported Cromartie’s request for DNA testing - but told the Atlanta Journal Constitution that officials had ‘refused to listen to’ what she had to say
However, the requests were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court.
After spending more than two decades on death row but was killed by lethal injection in November 2019, aged 52.
But before his death, Cromartie requested an extra special final meal, consisting of 11 different elements, including savoury and sweet items.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, he requested: steak, lobster, macaroni and cheese, cube steak, rice and gravy, steak and cheese sandwich, double cheeseburger, fries, a side of ranch dressing, strawberry milkshake and layered cake with white icing.
While many states place a financial cap on an inmate's last meal, the state of Georgia has granted elaborate requests in the past.
Cromartie declined when asked if he would like to share any final words, but he did allow a prayer to be recited on his behalf.
Cromartie was one of three men executed in the state of Georgia in 2019: 52-year-old Scotty Garnell Morrow was put to death in May, while Marion Wilson Jr. was killed in June aged 42.
Claire Reid