Leroy Drayton

Background

Leroy Joseph "Ricky" Drayton was executed by lethal injection in South Carolina on November 12, 1999. He was twice convicted and sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of a 19-year-old Charleston County gas station clerk, Rhonda Darlene Smith.

Drayton was 44 years old. Rhonda Darlene Smith had a 5-month-old child and was the sister of former state Rep. Sandi Wofford. Sandi Wofford later worked to get passage of a victims' bill of rights and worked as a victim's advocate for state Attorney General Charlie Condon.

The offence

Rhonda Darlene Smith was found near an abandoned coal trestle along the Cooper River in February 1984. Several witnesses said they saw Drayton and Smith drive up to the Kaye gas station where she worked early on Feb. 11, 1984. They said Smith opened the store and helped customers, and neither she nor Drayton appeared nervous or distressed.

Prosecutors said Drayton later robbed the store and kidnapped Smith. Drayton told police Smith stole more than $300 and offered it to him. He also said she voluntarily went with him to the coal trestle. Drayton said he tripped and the .357-caliber pistol he had accidentally fired hit Smith between the eyes, and he said the pistol fired, hitting Smith in the forehead.

Investigation

Drayton was not allowed to see his mother or a lawyer while he was being questioned by police, according to one of his lawyers, John Blume.

Trial

Drayton was twice convicted and sentenced to death. His first conviction was reversed by the state Supreme Court a year later. The court said the jurors should have been told to decide whether Drayton's statement to police was voluntary. Drayton was convicted again at his retrial.

11, 1984, and said neither she nor Drayton appeared nervous or distressed.

"The idea that she would be snatched from her workplace and driven to this desolate area late at night - the terror she must have suffered," said Condon, who was the local prosecutor in Charleston both times Drayton was tried.

Wofford did not want to be interviewed, attorney general's spokesman Robb McBurney said.

Appeals

The conviction was reversed by the state Supreme Court a year later. After Drayton was convicted again at retrial, the U.S. Supreme Court refused without comment to hear his appeal in a later stage, described as last month.

Sentencing

Drayton received death sentences after each conviction. After 15 years on death row, he was executed by lethal injection in South Carolina on November 12, 1999.

Outcome

Drayton was executed by lethal injection in South Carolina on November 12, 1999.

He became the third condemned inmate to be put to death in South Carolina that year, and the 23rd overall since the state resumed capital punishment on Jan. 10, 1986. South Carolina carried out 7 executions last year.

Other details

• The body of Rhonda Darlene Smith was found near an abandoned coal trestle along the Cooper River in February 1984.
• The .357-caliber pistol was described as accidentally fired after Drayton tripped.
• Drayton's statement to police included that Smith stole more than $300 and gave it to him, and that she went with him to the coal trestle voluntarily.
• Leroy Joseph "Ricky" Drayton was identified as having the age 44 and as having been executed on 99-11-12.