AZ Death Row Inmate Frank Atwood Executed Wednesday Morning

TUCSON, AZ — Arizona death row inmate Frank Atwood was put to death by lethal injection Wednesday morning at 10:16 a.m. at the Arizona State Prison Complex in Florence.

Atwood, 66, was convicted of murder in 1987 for the 1984 kidnapping and killing of 8-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in Tucson. Atwood has continually claimed that he is innocent.

Atwood and his lawyer made several filings in local, federal and appeals courts over the past several weeks, asking for a stay of execution. They were all denied.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Atwood’s final appeal Wednesday morning.

“Today, we remember Vicki Lynne and stand together with her loved ones and the Tucson community as their unwavering quest for justice is finally realized,” Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a news release following the execution.

Vicki Lynne Hoskinson was kidnapped Sept. 17, 1984 in Tucson as she rode her bicycle home after mailing a birthday card to her aunt. Atwood was convicted for kidnapping her that day and killing her. A hiker found Hoskinson's remains in April 1985 in the desert northwest of Tucson.

According to court records, witnesses saw Atwood within yards of Hoskinson shortly before she vanished and witnesses also saw Atwood driving with a young child in his car that day. Hoskinson was seen later that day with blood on his clothing and cactus needles stuck in his arms and legs.

Prior to moving to Tucson, Atwood was convicted in California of lewd and lascivious acts and kidnapping two young children, according to Brnovich.

Atwood was paroled for the California kidnapping sentence in May 1984 and traveled to Tucson in September, just days before Hoskinson's kidnapping.

A priest accompanied Atwood during his preparation for lethal injection, witnesses to the execution during a news conference.

The witnesses said he thanked the priest for “for coming today and shepherding me into the faith” and added: "I pray the Lord will have mercy on all of us and that the Lord will have mercy on me.”

Atwood was the second death row inmate to be executed in Arizona within the past month, after an 8-year hiatus from executions. Clarence Dixon, who was put to death May 11, was the first person to be executed in Arizona since 2014. The lengthy break in executions happened after the lethal injection of Joseph Wood, which his lawyers called botched, followed by the state's struggle to find a company that was willing to supply drugs for lethal injection.

Opponents of the death penalty worry that Arizona will soon begin executing a steady stream of prisoners who have languished on death row, but state officials didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press on their future execution plans.

No other executions have been scheduled so far in Arizona, which has 110 prisoners on death row.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.