Eddie Lee Mays
Eddie Lee Mays | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1928/1929 North Carolina, USA |
| Died | August 15, 1963 (aged 34) Sing Sing, Ossining, New York, U.S. |
| Criminal status | Executed by electrocution August 15, 1963 |
| Conviction(s) | Murder Robbery |
| Criminal penalty | Death penalty |
Eddie Lee Mays (c. 1929 – August 15, 1963) was the last person to be executed by the State of New York. He was convicted of first degree murder and robbery in 1962. Mays was 34 years old at the time of execution.[1]
Biography
Mays, an African-American from North Carolina, was sentenced to death for killing a customer during a robbery at a bar in New York.[2] Mays and two accomplices held up the Friendly Tavern, at 1403 Fifth Avenue in East Harlem on March 23, 1961.[1] Mays ordered the owner and the patrons to put their cash on the bar. However 31-year-old Maria Marini, who witnesses said was too slow to comply, enraged Mays. After opening her purse and finding it empty, he put a .38 caliber revolver to her temple and pulled the trigger.[3] The trial heard he had been part of a gang who had committed 52 robberies in six weeks.[3] Mays told reporters he would rather "fry" than spend his life in prison.[1]
Mays would become the last person to be executed by "Old Sparky", New York State's electric chair at Sing Sing prison. The State Electrician was Dow Hover. The electric chair had been the sole method of execution in the State since 1914 (hanging had been abolished in 1890). In 1965 the State of New York repealed the death penalty.
See also
- List of individuals executed in New York
- List of most recent executions by jurisdiction
- Capital punishment in the United States
References
- ^ a b c "The last man executed by New York state". The Kubrick Theme. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
- ^ The Last Executioner:
"Dow B. Hover was paid by the state to run its electric chair in the 1950s and '60s. The job may have cost him more than he earned.
The crime occurred shortly after he had arrived in the city following release from prison in his home state.", Village Voice, January 18, 2005. - ^ a b "The Last Electrocution". The New York Times. March 7, 1995. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
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External links
- New York Executions; retrieved November 12, 2007.
- NY Timeline. Death Penalty Information Center; retrieved November 12, 2007.
- A Look At The Last Man To Dine In The Empire State. Dead Man Eating; retrieved November 11, 2012.
- Clyde Haberman. NYC; Life or Death? More Yawns Than Passion. The New York Times (May 29, 1998); retrieved November 12, 2007.