The New York Times

Thursday, April 20, 2000

For Tennessee, First Execution in 40 Years

By EMILY YELLIN

NASHVILLE, April 19 -- Tennessee executed its first death row inmate in 40 years early this morning. The inmate, Robert Glen Coe, 44, was killed by lethal injection for the 1979 rape and murder of 8-year-old Cary Ann Medlin in the west Tennessee town of Greenfield.

"We are grateful that the judicial system has finally, after 21 long years in the state of Tennessee, honored, remembered and fulfilled its obligation to Cary Ann's right to life," the girl's mother, Charlotte Stout, told reporters outside the prison just minutes after witnessing the execution. "She had a right to live, and he took that from her."

As Ms. Stout spoke, Mr. Coe's family left the prison without talking to representatives of the news media. But in an eerie moment, one of Mr. Coe's sisters could be heard wailing in the background just as Ms. Stout was remembering her daughter's last words to her killer.

"Please do not forget Cary's words, 'Jesus loves you,' " Ms. Stout said. "These are her legacy to her killer, to Robert Coe's family and to us. My child will finally rest in peace."

Tennessee had been the only state in the former Confederacy that had not executed anyone since the United States Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that the death penalty did not inherently violate the Constitution. The South leads the nation by far in the number of executions carried out since that ruling.

Twice in the last month, Mr. Coe had come within hours of execution, but he received stays by federal courts reviewing his mental competency. A federal appeals court found him mentally competent, and the Supreme Court denied his last appeal, on Tuesday. He was pronounced dead at 1:37 a.m. at the Riverbend Maximum Security Prison here.

In the cold and dark early morning today, about 100 opponents of capital punishment held a candlelight vigil in a designated area on the prison grounds. Among the demonstrators was Jacob Chrisman, a 16-year-old high school sophomore in Nashville. He was one of 18 people arrested at Gov. Don Sundquist's residence on Tuesday morning in protest of the governor's refusal to block Mr. Coe's execution.

"I don't see the reason behind killing people who kill people," the youth said, "to show that killing people is wrong."