Two US inmates were executed Thursday in separate states, with one put to death by nitrogen gas in Alabama and another by lethal injection in Texas. The executions, carried out within 18 minutes of each other, bring the total number of US executions this year to 33, the highest since 2014. In Alabama, Geoffrey West, 50, was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. US Central Time for the 1997 murder of Margaret Berry, 33, a mother of two, during a gas station robbery in Attalla. In his final statement, provided to USA TODAY by his attorneys, West apologized and reflected on faith, saying, "I am at peace because I know where I am going and look forward to seeing Mrs. Berry when I get there... I urge everyone, especially young people, to find God. " Berry's son, Will Berry, who was 11 when his moth

See Full Page