Two Missouri executions set for after the new year

(AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday set a February execution date for a suburban St. Louis man who was convicted of killing his girlfriend and her three young children nearly 18 years ago.

Leonard Taylor, 58, is scheduled to be executed on Feb. 7 at the state prison in Bonne Terre. He was convicted in 2008 in the shooting deaths of Angela Rowe, 28, and her three children, Alexis, 10; AcQreya, 6; and Tyrese Conley, 5. Their bodies were found in their home in Jennings on Dec. 3, 2004.

In May 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Taylor’s case, leading to the setting of an execution date.

Taylor’s execution would come about a month after another convicted killer is scheduled to die in Missouri. Scott McLaughlin, who was convicted of raping and killing an ex-girlfriend 19 years ago, is scheduled for execution on Jan. 3.