THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 14, 1995 TAG: 9511140143
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: JARRATT, VA. LENGTH: Short : 44 lines
Virginia executed Herman C. Barnes by lethal injection Monday for murdering a Hampton supermarket owner and a store clerk during an attempted robbery in 1985.
Barnes was pronounced dead at 10:11 p.m. at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, said Warden John M. Jabe.
Barnes, 31, was convicted of capital murder in July 1986 for killing owner Clyde Jenkins, 72, and clerk Mohammad Afifi, 42, at the Bon Supermarket.
Barnes burst into the store shortly after 10 p.m. June 27, 1985. When Jenkins saw Barnes, who was wearing a nylon stocking over his head, a struggle ensued and Barnes shot Jenkins twice.
As Jenkins tried to get up from the floor, Barnes shot him a third time.
Afifi ran from the back of the store and jumped on Barnes, who turned and shot him.
In January 1984, U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer of Richmond overturned Barnes' death sentence, saying prosecutors suppressed evidence at his trial. The evidence was a gun found under Jenkins' body.
Prosecutors said Barnes never indicated he thought Jenkins was armed, but Spencer said Barnes' lawyers could have used the evidence during sentencing to argue their client was confronted by an armed man.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond reinstated Barnes' death sentence earlier this year. Barnes appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Late last week, the high court rejected his appeal without comment.
Gov. George Allen delayed the scheduled 9 p.m. execution for a ruling on Herman C. Barnes' request Monday for a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court. The court denied the request without dissent at 9:25 p.m.
Allen rejected Barnes' petition for clemency Monday night.
Spencer refused Wednesday to stay Barnes' execution. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond unanimously denied a similar appeal about 7:45 p.m. Monday.
KEYWORDS: CAPITAL PUNISHMENT LETHAL INJECTION DEATH ROW by CNB