By Frank Green
JARRATT -- Jerry Terrell Jackson was executed by injection tonight for the rape and murder of an 88-year-old woman he suffocated with a pillow and robbed of $60.
Jackson, 30, was pronounced dead at 9:14 p.m., said officials at the Greensville Correctional Center where Virginia executions are carried out.
Asked if he had any last words, Jackson shook his head indicating no.
It was the first execution in Virginia using the sedative pentobarbital as the first of three drugs administered in lethal injections. Virginia and most states traditionally used another drug that is no longer available.
Larry Traylor, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, said there were no complications.
Jackson was escorted into the execution chamber by execution team members at 8:53 p.m. He was quickly ushered onto the gurney and strapped in.
At 8:55 p.m., curtains were closed, blocking the view of witnesses while an IV line was inserted in each of his arms.
After the curtains reopened, Jackson declined to make a last statement and the first of three chemicals started flowing.
His chest moved as he breathed, his right toe appeared to tap and he moved his head a bit, but the movements quickly ceased.
He was pronounced dead by a doctor who was remotely monitoring his heartbeat.Jackson was sentenced to death for the slaying of Ruth Phillips in August 2001. Jackson broke into her apartment, where she lived alone, assaulted her and fled with her automobile.
Her partially clothed body was discovered by her son, Richard Phillips, who went to check on her when she failed to attend church and did not answer her phone.
"These were senseless crimes committed with no regard for anyone or anything other than Jackson's own gratification," Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said in a statement tonight. "The just sentence of death has now been carried out. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the family and friends of Ruth Phillips."
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