Missouri Blocks Spiritual Advisors from Prison Pastor’s Execution
On October 14, 2025, at around 6 p.m. in the state prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri, Lance Shockley, 48, was executed by lethal injection after Governor Mike Kehoe (R) denied him clemency. The state executed the former prison minister for the 2005 murder of Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. The execution—the first in Missouri in 2025— followed numerous unsuccessful appeals, with state officials asserting that Shockley had been afforded all legal protections.
Before the execution, the state DOC refused to allow Shockley, a practicing prison minister, to have his ordained daughters serve as his spiritual advisors at his impending execution. This denial came despite a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling mandating states allow spiritual advisors in the death chamber. See: Ramirez v. Collier, 595 S.Ct. 411 (2022).
The DOC claims its “common sense approach” prohibits family members as spiritual advisors, arguing they pose a security risk and could compromise the “dignity” of the execution. This stance is maintained despite the DOC’s own pre-2022 policy allowing family members and the agency’s failure to adopt new policies since the Supreme Court ruling. Shockley’s legal team countered that his daughters met all the credential requirements and that the DOC infringed on his religious freedom. To make matters worse, unanswered questions remained about Shockley’s 2005 murder conviction, including a judge’s override of a deadlocked jury to impose the death sentence.
Shockley’s execution was one of two in the country on the same day, as Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, was killed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison. As of this writing, 39 people have been executed so far in 2025, a marked increase from the 25 total in 2024.
Sources: KFVS, Associated Press, Death Penalty Information Center
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Related legal case
Ramirez v. Collier
| Year | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Cite | 142 S. Ct. 1264 (2022) |
| Level | Supreme Court |
| Conclusion | Bench Verdict |