If there's one good thing about getting executed, it's the food.
Eric John King was put to death this morning for the 1989 murders of two men at a Phoenix convenience store -- but he didn't die hungry.
According to the Arizona Department of Corrections, King chowed down on catfish, corn bread, and cream soda hours before his long-awaited date with the executioner's needle.
King's last meal consisted of a six-ounce fillet of fried catfish, a half-cup of collard greens, a half-cup of candied yams, two "small portions" of corn bread, one wedge of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, one small tomato, one medium-size pink grapefruit, and
two 20-ounce bottles of cream soda.
Catfish and cornbread aren't exactly our ideal final meal, but according to the DOC, if we were to find ourselves on death row for committing some horrific crime, we could request whatever our murderous hearts desired and prison officials must make "every reasonable effort to accommodate the last meal request."
DOC spokesman Barrett Marson tells New Times he suspects "reasonable effort" means something that could be purchased in a local store. In other words, if you want ribs from some barbecue joint in Alabama, you're probably out of luck.
However, nowhere in the DOC's department order manual does it mention anything about the cost of an inmate's last meal, so we're thinking twin lobster tails, some filet mignon, and a two-liter bottle of Simply Lemonade would suit our palate better than collard greens and cream soda.
Death row inmate Daniel Wayne Cook is next on the list to occupy an Arizona death chamber. He's scheduled to be executed a week from today -- it will be interesting to see what's on his final menu.
