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The state of Arkansas executed death row inmate Ledell Lee late Thursday, its first death sentence in more than a decade and the first of four inmates scheduled to die before the end of the month when a crucial lethal injection drug is set to expire.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear five last-minute appeals by Lee’s attorneys to stay his execution, which began at 11:44 p.m. CT (12:44 a.m. ET). Lee was pronounced dead at 11:56 p.m., Arkansas Department of Correction Director Wendy Kelly said.

Lee, 51, was sentenced to death in October 1995 in Pulaski County, Arkansas, for the murder of 26-year-old Debra Reese.

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Image: Ledell Lee appears in Pulaski County Circuit Court for a hearing in which lawyers argued to stop his execution, April 18, 2017. He was executed on April 20, 2017. Ledell Lee appears in Pulaski County Circuit Court, April 18, 2017. Benjamin Krain / AP

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Click link below for article and video:

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/lethal-injection/arkansas-can-execute-one-inmate-thursday-following-court-ruling-drug-n749156

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