A Tennessee death row inmate used his last words to apologize to the people he harmed before he was executed nearly three decades after he raped and murdered a “gentle, sweet, and innocent” college student.

Harold Wayne Nichols declared he was “ready to go home” as he was administered a lethal injection of pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Thursday.

“To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry. To my family, know that I love you,” Nichols said, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections . “I know where I’m going. I’m ready to go home.”

Nichols, 64, sought a stay of execution on the eve of his death sentence, but the Tennessee Supreme Court denied the request.

He was pronounced dead at 10:39 a.m. Thursday.

The convicted murderer had been on

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