Kaine Permits Execution To Proceed Despite Beliefs

Shortly before Vinson was put to death yesterday, some observers speculated that political pressure would push Kaine to deny Vinson's clemency petition. But during a recent radio interview Kaine eschewed the suggestion that politics might play a role in his first death penalty decision and called Vinson's crime "very gruesome."

"The pressure of trying to make the right decision about whether there is or is not doubt about guilt when somebody's life is at stake is so much more pressure than whatever the political pressure of the day would be," Kaine said.

Yesterday's execution marked the first in Virginia since September 2004.

A Portsmouth jury convicted Vinson in 1998 of capital murder, carjacking, abduction with intent to defile and sexual penetration with an inanimate object, a year after the severely mutilated body of Felton, a 25-year-old mother of three, was found in a vacant house in Portsmouth.

In the years since her daughter's mutilated body was found wrapped in a dirty wool blanket in Portsmouth, Frances Peace has imagined Vinson's death a million times. She said she always thought she would be there to witness his execution. But days beforehand she was unsure if that's what her daughter would have wanted or if she could even summon the strength to attend.

"I want to be there for her. But I don't think it would be good for me to go," Peace said. "I think that's what she's telling me -- 'Mom, don't go. It's alright.' It's not going to bring her back."

Vinson entered the chamber two minutes before his scheduled execution. Several of Felton's family members attended the execution as witnesses. He offered no resistance as several guards strapped him to the gurney. Asked if he had any last words, Vinson shook his head and declined to make a statement. The blue curtain to the witness chamber closed, and reopened eight minutes later.

Researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.