Death-row inmate who killed girl in 1984 executed in US state of Arizona

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - A death-row inmate was executed by lethal injection in the US state of Arizona for killing a girl in 1984, according to a report Wednesday.

Frank Jarvis Atwood, 66, was convicted of kidnapping and murdering 8-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson.

The Arizona Republic newspaper reported that the execution took place at 10.16 a.m. local time at the Arizona State Prison in Florence.

The execution, the second since 2014, came hours later the US Supreme Court rejected Atwood's request for a stay of execution.

Atwood challenged his convictions and sentence, exhausting all of his appeals by 2018, according to the newspaper.

The slain girl's remains were found in the desert northwest of Tucson nearly seven months after her disappearance, Fox10 television station reported. The cause of the death remains unknown.

Lethal injection became Arizona's primary method of execution in November 1992.