Shortly after 6 p.m. Wednesday, the state of Mississippi executed Thomas Loden Jr., 58, for the 2000 kidnapping, rape and murder of 16-year-old Leesa Gray in Itawamba County.
In the days leading up to the execution, Loden seemed at peace with what was coming, meeting daily with the prison chaplain and a mental health professional.
These were Loden’s final words, according to the Mississippi Department of Corrections: “I’d like to express to the Gray family and anyone else I hurt how deeply remorseful I am for everything I did. I know these mere words mean nothing and cannot erase the damage I did. For the last 20 years, I’ve tried to do a good deed every single day to make up for the life I took from this world. If nothing else, I hope you get peace and closure.”
In June, Gallup’s annual poll on Americans’ view of the death penalty showed that a slight majority (54 percent) of Americans favor the death penalty. That’s the lowest approval rate since a 1972 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was unconstitutional, a ban that lasted only until 1976 when the Court reversed its opinion.
Since then, almost 8,000 people have been sentenced to death and about 1,800 have been executed. Loden was the 18th person to be executed this year in the U.S.
It is hard for me to reconcile my view of the death penalty. It’s one of those things that, when considered in the abstract, seems an act of cruelty, but when considered as a real-life case, seems understandable, even if it remains disturbing.
Wednesday’s execution can be perceived as the end of a 22-year tragedy, yet I wonder if today that tragedy has really ended, if that tragedy doesn’t span far more than the past two-plus decades and even if this tragedy will continue to tear at hearts for years to come.
By all accounts, Gray was a typical teen, friendly, easy-going. She had just finished her junior year of high school where she was class vice president. Her school activities reflected her many interests: Chorus, Juniorette, Future Educators of America and DECA, a club for young entrepreneurs. Her funeral attracted more than 1,000 mourners in her tiny hometown of Dorsey.
Had she lived, she would be 38 years old. By now, she may have had teens of her own.
That’s one tragedy, the greatest tragedy.
But there’s another tragedy, too, the troubled life of Thomas Loden, whose early years were filled with abuse, neglect, instability — all the ugliness that goes on behind closed doors and can dangerously warp a child’s view of himself and the world. As a teen, Loden finally found stability and safety upon moving in with his grandparents. He graduated from the same high school that Gray would attend and joined the Marines after high school.
His military record included serving the Gulf War where he was awarded many commendations. His commanding officer described Loden as “a poster Marine” and the “hardest charging Marine I have ever had work for me,” according to court documents.
Testimony also revealed that Loden suffered from PTSD and depression. He had three failed marriages and at the time of the murder was abusing both drugs and alcohol.
He never got the help he needed. On that summer evening 22 years ago, it exploded into a monstrous attack.
None of his troubled past is in any way any excuse for that unspeakable crime. But you wonder how many Thomas Lodens there are out there, people whose lives can be altered if they get the help they need.
Loden pleaded guilty to the murder, confessing that he had kidnapped Gray and forced her into his van and proceeded to rape her over the course of several hours. Asked why he didn’t release her after the sexual assaults had ended, he said he feared it would harm his reputation as “the perfect Marine.”
It’s hard to generate any sympathy for someone who places a higher value on his reputation than the life of an innocent teenager.
There is no part of either story that is not steeped in tragedy.
Closure for Gray’s family? I sincerely hope that’s true, although I doubt it.
As someone who has also lost a daughter, albeit by accident rather than murder, I know the pain doesn’t end. As long as there are friends and family among the living who remember Leesa Gray, the pain of that loss will continue.
The tragedy doesn’t end, not even with the execution of the guilty party.
I wonder, then, what did Wednesday’s execution achieve?
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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