Missouri has executed death row prisoner Leon Taylor after his last-minute appeals were denied. Taylor was convicted for the 1994 murder of a gas station attendant in Kansas City. He had sought clemency from Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and a stay from the Supreme Court, but both efforts were rejected Tuesday night. Taylor, who is black, was initially sentenced to death by a judge after the trial jury deadlocked. When the judge’s sentence was thrown out, an all-white jury then sentenced Taylor to death. Defense attorneys argued he was penalized for successfully appealing his first conviction. Lawyers also cited a history of child abuse beginning at the age of five. Taylor is the ninth person to be executed in Missouri this year.