State executes man for 1985 stabbing

<p>The state of Georgia executed Robert Karl Hicks on Thursday for stabbing a 28-year-old woman to death nine months after he was released from prison on a rape conviction.</p><p>Hicks, 47, was pronounced dead at 5The U.S. Supreme Court refused Thursday without comment to block Hicks' execution after delaying it for an hour to consider a last-minute appeal.</p><p>Hicks stabbed Toni Strickland Rivers eight times with a pocket knife, slit her throat and left her body _ nude from the waist down _ in a field near Griffin, about 35 miles south of Atlanta. Hicks did not know the woman and had followed her from a rural grocery store where she was using a pay phone.</p><p>After the injection, Hicks took a few strained last breaths as his chest heaved. His breaths drew shallower until they stopped.</p><p>Earlier in the day, Hicks ate a sampling of his last meal of fish, shrimp, french fries, coleslaw, crescent rolls, chocolate cake, a vanilla milkshake and a soda. He did not finish eating any of the items.</p>

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