The first US executions since a botched lethal injection in Oklahoma, in April, that was condemned by human rights activist

By Tamara El

John Ruthell Henry, convicted of killing his wife and her 5-year-old son nearly 30 years ago, was executed at Florida State Prison on Wednesday. Henry, 63, had previously served seven years for manslaughter in the slaying of his common-law wife. The two other executions occurred in the states of Georgia and Missouri late Tuesday and early Wednesday.

Just before midnight Tuesday, Georgia executed 59-year-old Marcus Wellons for raping and murdering a 15-year-old girl in 1989. Two hours later in Missouri, 46-year-old John Winfield was executed for a 1996 shooting spree that killed two women and blinded the third.

In April, Clayton Lockett, a convicted murderer in Oklahoma, suffered an agonizing death during a botched execution. Lockett, 38, was improperly sedated and suffered excruciating pain until he died of a heart attack 43 minutes after he was administered a new, untested three-drug procedure.

The executions of the four men, all of whom were African American, has caused controversy over the use of lethal injection drugs received from unidentified companies. US States have trouble obtaining the drugs because of an embargo from European pharmaceutical companies.

According to the American Civil Liberties (ACLU), the racial ration of the victims of the death penalty in the US has been striking since the revival of the practice in 1976, with the penalty being disproportionately imposed on blacks and ethnic minorities.

-Tamara El(@MwiliHakalu)