Don Johnson, a death row inmate who was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing his wife, Connie. He suffocated her by placing a bin bag on her throat in 1984, and for his last meal, he requested it to be given to the homeless.
He is a death row inmate at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Tennessee, USA.
Ahead of his scheduled death via lethal injection, he decided to deny his right to have a last meal, he asked the authorities to give it to someone who actually needs it, to the homeless.
Kelley Henry, a Public Defender, said, “Mr. Johnson realises that his $20 allotment will not feed many homeless people. His request is that those who have supported him provide a meal to a homeless person.”
Don Johnson said that he regrets what he did to Connie, his wife, and even called himself a “monster”.
In a statement that was written by Don Johnson, he said, “I truly regret my life and what I became in the process.”
He added, “I am and will continue to carry the pain of all the grief that I have caused others to endure. It is because of the person that I had became [sic] that I found that I was not a man but a monster and I was determined this would no longer be acceptable and I sought the Lord for I was at the bottom of the barrel and the only way left for me was up.”
Religious leaders have asked Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee to grant Don clemency, as he has been through a religious conversion.
But earlier this week, Lee announced that he had to deny clemency for Don, he said, “After a prayerful and deliberate consideration of Don Johnson’s request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and will not be intervening.”