Casey McWhorter (ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS)

An Alabama man who shot and killed his friend’s father in a premeditated robbery in 1993 has been put to death, killed by lethal injection on Thursday — over 30 years after the initial crime. Before he died, however, he had a dire message for other youth who were going through a tough mental time like he was.

Casey McWhorter was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death after slaughtering 34-year-old Edward Lee Williams, 34, at the age of 18. He and two other teens, Williams’ 15-year-old son, conspired to steal money from his home and kill him. He went to the home to commit the crime but didn’t have the intention of actually following through with the killing, he said in a recent interview.

But the situation escalated after the older Williams came home during the robbery and surprised the teens. He said they had been in the home grabbing various items when he came in and began fighting with his son over the gun he had. That’s when McWhorter came out of one of the back rooms. Williams immediately noticed him and started swinging at him, and so he did the only thing he could think to do — he shot the other gun that was in his hand at that point, and it hit Williams in the abdomen despite McWhorter saying he had aimed for the legs.

Casey A. McWhorter spent most of his adult life on Alabama’s death row. Thursday night he died there.

The state of Alabama executed McWhorter, 49, by lethal injection in the death chamber of the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. He was convicted of capital murder in 1994 in connection with a 1993 Marshall County robbery and homicide. He went to death row when he was 19. He had been 18 three months earlier, when the murder was committed.

The drapes of the media witness room opened at 6:30 p.m. McWhorter was lying in a bed partially covered by a tightly drawn white sheet. His head and torso were slightly elevated. He was lying cruciform, with both arms facing palm up. Restraints for his body were on top of the sheet. Two IV lines came from a small window in the back wall of the death chamber. One appeared to enter his right arm near the inside of his elbow, and the other appeared to enter his left arm at the inside of his left elbow.

Warden Terry Raybon read the death warrant and governor’s order of execution. McWhorter was given the opportunity to say last words.

His final words were: “I would like to say I love my mother and family. I would like to say to the victim’s family I’m sorry. I hope you found peace.” He then also took a jab at his executioner, the prison warden, who faced many accusations of domestic violence accusations decades ago, calling him a “habitual abuser of women.””

At 6:33 p.m. McWhorter closed his eyes. A minute later he shifted his legs, clenched his fists and moved his fingers.

He was approached by his spiritual advisor.

At 6:35 p.m. he was moving his fingers. And at 6:37 p.m. he raised his head, made a yawning motion, appeared to gasp and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. At 6:39 p.m. he appeared to stop breathing.

His spiritual advisor made the sign of the cross.

A few minutes after a corrections officer inside the death chamber bent to McWhorter’s ear and loudly called his name, the officer then touched his face and pinched the inside of his right arm.

At 6:47 p.m. the drapes to the media witness room were drawn.

McWhorter’s official time of death was given as 6:56 p.m.

McWhorter’s final meal consisted of Turtles candy, and he had visits with his mother, stepdad and a spiritual advisor, a prison spokesperson said. He also spoke with his attorney and his friends by phone. His death was the second execution in Alabama this year.

After the execution, a news conference was held inside the media center.

It took two “sticks” to access McWhorter’s veins, one to his right arm and one to his left arm, said John Hamm, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections. He read a lengthy letter from April Williams, the daughter of Edward Lee Williams, the victim of the homicide.

She was 16 when her father was murdered.

“My Dad was only 33 years old. He should still be here,” the letter read, in part. “He should be ready to retire.”

Gilbert “Bert” Williams, Edward Lee Williams’ brother, addressed the media.

“It took 30 years for this to occur. It’s a kind of unfortunate that we had to wait this long, but justice has been served,” he said.

Gilbert Williams compared McWhorter’s execution to “…the peaceful death to a murderous dog.”

There are three witness rooms in the death chamber, which is attached to the building that houses death row. One witness room is for the victim’s family, one is for the media and the inmate‘s witnesses, and one is for state officials. McWhorter had no witnesses.