We write about crime cases now and then, but this story will make you question the system of justice and the concept of capital punishment and fill your heart with emotions like no other. Lance Shockley, a 48-year-old Missouri man and father of two, was executed on October 14, 2025, at 6 pm by lethal injection for the 2005 murder of 37-year-old Missouri State Highway Patrol Sergeant Carl Dewayne Graham Jr.
His daughter Summer, who is a softball coach at the University of Science and Technology in Missouri, visited him during his time at Potosi Correctional Center. Her parents split, but it was her mother who encouraged Summer and her sister to see their father.
In June 2025, she met Lance as several family members were invited to spend time with the prisoners. They ate lunch and prayed. Summer said that she bonded with her father over faith in God as Lance became the leader of became a leader in a prison ministry program.
“He just always told us how much he loved us and cared about us and how thankful he was that we could visit him and talk to him,” she said. When she came to know about the final execution date, she lived in immense grief, the kind that had no words.
A statement from Lance Shockley’s two daughters pic.twitter.com/Ep4ZvpX2yM
— Katie Moore (@katie_reports) October 15, 2025
She hoped that her dearest father would be pardoned. Yet when Lance Shockley was executed, his last words were, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” ( via The Marshall Project).
Lance shot Carl Dewayne Graham Jr outside his home in Van Buren, Missouri, with a rifle and shotgun as the officer exited his patrol car. Graham was reportedly investigating Shockley at the time for a separate hit-and-run crime. Apparently, the motive behind the murder was to avoid prosecution evidence, as Shockley was apparently worried that Graham might charge him with involuntary manslaughter.
As per The Express, no murder weapon was found, and there were no direct eyewitnesses to the shooting. Lance was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. His trial was held in 2009 after he was declared guilty. In Missouri, if a jury cannot agree on the sentence in a capital case, the judge has the authority to decide.
A self-described “pro-lif[er]”, Gov. Kehoe denied Lance Shockley clemency, an innocent man who’s dedicated his life to serving others.
You can still make a difference:
📞 Call Gov. Kehoe NOW: 573-751-3222
Urge him to reconsider and stop this injustice. pic.twitter.com/dImqT18apm
— Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty (@MADPMO) October 14, 2025
Hence, when the second phase of the case came forward, it was challenging to decide if Lance Shockley deserved the death sentence. His legal team tried very hard to forgo the death sentence by contending that much of that evidence had never been tested. Some items from the crime scene were never DNA tested, and his lawyers said those tests might have proved he was innocent.
If someone is executed and later found innocent of the crime, there will be no way to fix it. Lance Shockley’s attorneys and human rights advocates submitted a clemency request to Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe.
It stated, “Violence against law enforcement officers will not be tolerated. The justice system must uphold accountability for those who kill the very people sworn to protect us.”
Gov. Mike Kehoe denies clemency for Lance Shockley, convicted of murder in 2005. He’s scheduled for execution tomorrow. #moleg pic.twitter.com/PW9zvzLrKR
— Hannah Falcon (@HannahFalconTV) October 13, 2025
Lance Shockley remained calm before his execution as he sat behind the soundproof glass of the execution chamber, looking confused as he was asked to recite a verse from the bible. Civil liberties groups slammed the execution and the lack of DNA testing and condemned the dangers of circumstantial evidence.
