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Jackson — Georgia executed a man on Wednesday who was convicted in the 1998 killings of a central Georgia trucking company owner and his two children during a home burglary.
Daniel Anthony Lucas became the fifth person the state has executed this year. He was put to death by injection of the barbiturate pentobarbital at the state prison in Jackson. Warden Bruce Chatman told witnesses the time of death was 2154hrs.

The 37-year-old inmate was sentenced to death for the April 1998 killings of 37-year-old Steven Moss, his 11-year-old son Bryan and 15-year-old daughter Kristin, who interrupted a burglary at their home near Macon in central Georgia. Gerri Ann Moss, the victims’ wife and mother, found their bodies when she arrived at home.

“I would like to say I’m sorry to Mrs Moss and the family,” Lucas said when given a chance to make a final statement. He added that he loves his friends and family and then said a short prayer: “All beings are basically good. All beings are basically kind. All beings are basically strong. All beings are basically wise.”

The warden left the room at 2138hrs. Records from past executions show the lethal drug generally begins to flow within a couple of minutes of the warden leaving the room, but that is not visible to news media witnesses.

Lucas closed his eyes and appeared to say a prayer, briefly lifting his head and opening his eyes to look at a woman seated in the second row of the witness area. He then closed his eyes and was still within a couple of minutes. — AFP