A teenage girl wants to watch her dad be given a lethal injection next week.
Corionsa Ramey, from Missouri, has applied to the federal court in Kansas asking for permission to watch her father Kevin Johnson, 37, be killed on November 29.
Johnson was sentenced to death in St Louis in 2005 for killing Missouri officer William McEntee just hours after the death of his 12-year-old brother during a police search of their home.
Ms Ramey, who also witnessed her mum being murdered, has described her dad as 'the most important person in my life' after lodging her appeal on Monday.
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union are trying to get her permission to view the execution, which under-21s are currently banned from watching.
They argue the law to stop people under 21 from watching executions violates constitutional rights and serves no purpose.
In court documents, Ms Ramey wrote: "If my father were dying in the hospital, I would sit by his bed holding his hand and praying for him until his death, both as a source of support for him.
"And as a support for me as a necessary part of my grieving process and for my peace of mind."
Police officer William McEntee, a husband and father-of-three, was dispatched to Johnson's home on July 5, 2005 to serve a warrant for his arrest after breaching his probation.
When Johnson saw the police arrive he went to his brother's room to wake up the 12-year-old who fled to his nan's house next door.
But when Joseph Long, who had a congenital heart defect, ran to the house he suffered a seizure and tragically died in hospital just hours later.
During Mr McEntee's trial, Johnson testified that he stopped his mum from entering the house to help his dying younger brother.
Later that evening the cop returned to the neighbourhood after being called to an unrelated job.
Johnson bumped into Mr McEntree and pulled out his weapon and shot the officer twice.
His daughter, who has been without her dad since she was two, said the pair were able to build up a rapport through emails, phone calls and letters.
Last month, Ms Ramsey brought her newborn son to meet his grandad.
Anthony Rothert, from the American Civil Liberties Union, said if she is unable to see her dad for the last time it will cause her 'irreparable harm'.
They add it also breaches Ms Ramsey's right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and her First Amendment right of association.
Mr Rothert claims the 21 age restriction is not reasonable and does not serve a purpose.
In addition, it is argued in some federal executions states there is no age requirement for the family to watch an execution although there are some states where the minimum age is 18.
Johnson's lawyers tried to delay the execution after claiming racism played a role in the jury's decision to sentence him as the officer was white.
The killer, who was 19 at the time, had asked the court to intervene after arguing he has a history of mental illness.
However, the Missouri Attorney General's Office said in a ruling at the US Supreme Court, there was no reason to delay the execution.
They said: "The surviving victims of Johnson's crimes have waited long enough for justice, and every day longer that they must wait is a day they are denied the chance to finally make peace with their loss."
