I have stated on many occasions on my radio show that I support capital punishment, but in this case I believe that the eventual execution is almost as cruel as the original crime itself. Why? Because of the length of time on death row, almost 19 years, before being walked to the execution chamber. 19 years!!!!!!

A Florida inmate, sentenced to death for raping and murdering an aspiring artist in 1991, was executed this evening. Darius Kimbrough, who was 18 when he broke into Denise Collins' apartment and assaulted her as she slept, was pronounced dead at 6.18pm after being given a lethal injection. In the hours before his execution - the second in Florida using a new lethal cocktail of drugs - Kimbrough was visited by family and friends. The 40-year-old, who was convicted in 1994 for the brutal attack, requested a final meal of fatty foods, most of which he ate before 9.45am. His final meal request included two slices of pizza, fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, chicken gizzards, chocolate chip ice cream and fruit punch. His mother, a chaplain, three aunts and a cousin were among his final visitors, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jessica Cary told the Orlando Sentinel.

Kimbrough had spent nearly 19 years on death row after being convicted of first-degree murder, sexual battery and burglary. He was convicted of the attack on 28-year-old Miss Collins after DNA from a rape he committed five months later was matched to evidence found in her apartment. Kimbrough was found guilty of climbing into Miss Collins' second-floor apartment and attacking her in the bedroom. Her jaw and skull were broken in the vicious attack and she died in hospital the following day, when life support equipment was turned off. Relatives of Miss Collins attended the execution. Her mother, Diane Stewart, said: 'He lived 22 years too long and too well and he's going to go out clean and easy, and he doesn't deserve it.' 'She didn't go out that way, and he doesn't deserve what he's getting. He should go out the way she did. That's how we feel,' she told CBS News before Kimbrough was executed. Ms Stewart remembered her daughter, who had a fine arts degree, as being 'big-hearted, out going and laid back'. Kimbrough was the second Florida death row inmate to be executed using a new combination of lethal drugs. He was not a plaintiff in a lawsuit by other inmates who have argued that the new injection should be halted as unconstitutional.