MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. Gerald Bivins, who murdered a clergyman at an Indiana highway rest stop 10 years ago, was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday after consuming a final meal cooked by his mother, prison officials said.

Bivins' mother attempted suicide at her hotel shortly after sharing a last meal with her son at the prison, according to Department of Corrections spokesperson Pam Patterson.

Jeanne Bivins, 61, was taken to a Michigan City hospital on Monday night. She remained in the Intensive Care Unit early on Wednesday. She was treated for an overdose of a prescription drug.

Bivins, 41, had waived all appeals and said he wanted to die. He was pronounced dead at 12:26 a.m. CST at Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, the Indiana Department of Correction said.

Earlier he had consumed a last meal of German ravioli and chicken and noodles, prepared by his mother in the prison kitchen under supervision. Prison officials said it was the first time the state had granted a condemned inmate's request for a final meal cooked by a family member.

He was the eighth person put to death in Indiana since 1981 when the state resumed executions.

last week Bivins told a news conference death was a "way to escape the abuse and frustration. Spending my life in prison does not appeal to me. The only thing that can come out of it is anger and frustration."

"I wish to apologize to the victim's family for the pain I have caused and the pain I have caused my family and friends," Bivins said in a final statement; "and I ask that they, who did this to me, be forgiven."

He was convicted of killing the Rev. William Radcliffe, a Protestant minister who ran a rehabilitation program to which Bivins, then on parole, was assigned.

Radcliffe was killed during a robbery at an interstate highway rest stop in January 1991 after the minister recognized him, Bivins later said. He and two companions had been on a two-day crime spree at the time.

(Reuter)