Sometime after Rego tried to end the relationship, Reed pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Shortly afterwards he bought a gun and hitchhiked to the home of Rego's parents, Joseph and Barbara Ann Lafayette, who lived in Adams Run, South Carolina, looking for her.
He then cooperated with police in an attempt to locate the murder weapon and spent casings, however they were never recovered.
[2] Reed, who was said to have an IQ of 77 and have a "neurological impairment", represented himself and waived his right to testify during the final part of his trial at Charleston County Circuit Court.
He chose to die by electrocution instead of lethal injection,[8] did not ask for clemency, eat a last meal, or make a final statement.
[2] When the switch was thrown, The Post and Courier reporter Jill Coley, who was a pool reporter the execution,s heard a noise similar to the sound made by the key ring clip lock on a gas station pump handle when the tank is "full".
The electrodes were disconnected at 11:25 p.m. and he was pronounced dead at 11:27 p.m. A prison official then stated, "The sentence of South Carolina v. James Reed was carried out at 11:27 p.m."[10][11] Witnesses to the execution included Marsha Lafayette Aleem, the youngest daughter of the couple Reed was convicted of murdering.