execution | My Crime Library

Raphael Holiday Texas Execution

Raphael Holiday was executed by the State of Texas for the murders of three children. According to court documents Raphael Holiday would set fire to a cabin that would kill his eighteen month old daughter and two other children. Raphael Holiday insisted he was not responsible for setting the fire however he would be found guilty and would be sentenced to death. Raphael Holiday would be executed on November 19, 2015

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A Texas inmate has been executed after failed appeals for setting a fire that killed his 18-month-old daughter and her two young half-sisters at an east Texas home 15 years ago.

Raphael Holiday, 36, became the 13th convicted killer put to death this year in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any other state. It has accounted for half of all executions in the US so far this year.

The lethal injection was carried out after the US supreme court rejected an appeal seeking to halt Holiday’s punishment so new attorneys could be appointed to pursue additional unspecified appeals in his case.

Earlier on Wednesday the judge in Holiday’s trial court stopped the execution after Holiday’s trial attorney filed an appeal saying the conviction and some trial testimony were both improper. The judge agreed the issues should be reviewed and withdrew his execution warrant. The Texas attorney general’s office appealed, the judge’s order was voided and the warrant reinstated, clearing the way for the lethal injection to go ahead

Holiday insisted he didn’t know how the log cabin he once shared with his common-law wife and the children in the Madison county woods about 100 miles north of Houston caught fire in September 2000.

“I loved my kids,” Holiday said. “I never would do harm to any of them.”

Evidence and testimony showed Holiday was irate over a protective order his estranged wife obtained after his arrest for sexually assaulting one of the children. Holiday, from prison, contended he knew nothing about the assault.

According to court records he showed up at the home and forced the girls’ grandmother at gunpoint to douse the interior with gasoline. After it ignited he sped away in the grandmother’s car, hit a police car that arrived outside the cabin and then led officers on a chase that ended two counties away when he wrecked.

Defense attorneys at his trial suggested an electrical problem or a pilot light started the blaze in the early hours of 6 September 2000 that killed Holiday’s daughter, Justice, and her half-sisters, Tierra Lynch, 7, and Jasmine DuPaul, 5.

The girls’ grandmother told a jury she watched Holiday bend down and then the flames erupted, court records show. Jurors convicted him of capital murder and decided he should be put to death.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/19/texas-executes-raphael-holiday-over-fire-that-killed-three-children

Jerry Correll Florida Execution

Jerry Correll was executed by the State of Florida for a quadruple murder. According to court documents Jerry Correll would go over to his ex wives home and stab her, their five year old daughter, his e wives mother and sister killing all four. Jerry Correll would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Thirty years after being sentenced to death Correll would be executed on October 29, 2015

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At 7:36 p.m. Thursday, decades after he brutally stabbed four people to death, Jerry Correll’s body lay lifeless in the death chamber at Florida State Prison.

Just 10 minutes earlier, Jerry Correll — dressed in all white under a white sheet — turned down a final statement. And an executioner injected him with three chemicals. The first sedated him, the next paralyzed him and the third stopped his heart.

With that came an end to one of the most protracted cases on Florida’s crowded death row. Thirty years after he stabbed and killed his five-year-old daughter, his ex-wife and her mother and sister in Orlando, Jerry Correll himself was dead at 59.

The execution occurred after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected without comment Correll’s request for a stay at 6:40 p.m., 40 minutes after the execution was scheduled.

Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, saying Correll’s execution should be delayed while the court decides whether Florida’s capital punishment system is constitutional. At issue: In Florida, it takes only a majority of the jury – not a unanimous one as in most states – to recommend a death penalty. Even then, the judge has a final say.

Breyer also said keeping a prisoner on death row for 30 years constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Jerry Correll is the first person to be executed since January in the small, white death chamber. His death was put off in February by the Florida Supreme Court while federal justices considered a case that could rule the state’s lethal injections unconstitutional.

That case surrounded midazolam, a highly controversial drug used in lethal injections in just a few states, including Florida. Its purpose is to sedate the inmate, although in some cases it has not worked properly, causing major complications in an otherwise straightforward process.

On Thursday, nothing appeared to go awry.

Correll’s execution is also the 22nd to take place in the death chamber at Florida State Prison since Gov. Rick Scott took office in 2011, more than any other governor since the death penalty was reinstated in Florida in 1976. Jeb Bush ordered 21 in his eight years in office and Charlie Crist ordered just five.

“It’s his solemn duty to uphold the law and his foremost concern is always for the victims and their families,” said Jackie Schutz, Scott’s spokeswoman.

Family members of the victims — Susan Correll, Marybeth Jones, Mary Lou Hines and Tuesday Correll — were present, as were Correll’s lawyers and a member of clergy.

“The consequences of (Correll’s) actions should be no less than death itself,” the family of the victims said in a written statement after the execution. “It has taken a long time for his punishment to be fulfilled, but we have chosen to use that time to heal and move forward.”

The family of death row inmates aren’t allowed to witness executions. Correll spoke with his daughter on the phone Thursday morning, however, and she and other family members visited him last week, Department of Corrections spokesman McKinley Lewis said.

On Thursday, Jerry Correll had a two-hour meeting with Deacon Jason Roy, a Catholic chaplain who serves death row inmates. Around 10 a.m., he ate his last meal: a cheeseburger, french fries and a Coke.

“His general demeanor has been calm and in good spirits today,” Lewis said.

Inside the death chamber on Thursday evening, the team responsible with carrying out Scott’s death warrant were connected to the governor and Attorney General Pam Bondi via phone. They were able to ensure no last-minute decisions required the execution to be put off, Schutz said.

Early last week, Correll’s lawyers made an unsuccessful bid to the U.S. Supreme Court for another delay while the process used to sentence people to death in Florida is under review by the court in a case called Hurst v. Florida.

Bondi opposed any delay, filing documents with the court arguing that the state is on solid legal ground. On Tuesday, she said that “the courts have ruled in our favor in the past on this very issue” and called Correll’s crime a “horrible, horrible murder.”

“We’re not going to let anybody be executed that we feel isn’t warranted by our laws,” Bondi said.

With the U.S. Supreme Court planning to rule on Florida’s death penalty — this is the only state where a judge issues a death sentence based on the suggestion of a jury that need not be unanimous — critics said now was not the time to move ahead with an execution. Because Correll’s death sentence could get sent back to a jury if the U.S. Supreme Court rules against the state in that case, Marian DeLiberato, one of Correll’s lawyers, said she was surprised the execution wasn’t delayed by a lower court.

“It certainly was a surprise to us,” she said. “We certainly thought they would recognize the significance of the Hurst case and how it potentially affects Florida’s death penalty.”

https://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/jerry-correll-convicted-in-1985-slaying-scheduled-to-die-at-6-pm/2251808/

Licho Escamilla Texas Execution

Licho Escamilla was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of an off duty police officer. According to court documents Licho Escamilla was already wanted for another murder when he was involved in a shooting outside of a Dallas night club striking and killing off duty police officer Christopher Kevin James who was working security at the club. Licho Escamilla would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.

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A man already being sought for a neighbor’s slaying when he killed a Dallas police officer outside a club was executed Wednesday.

Licho Escamilla was put to death for the fatal 2001 shooting of Christopher Kevin James, who was trying to break up a brawl involving Escamilla. The 33-year-old prisoner was pronounced dead at 6:31 p.m. — 18 minutes after the lethal injection began.

Escamilla became the 24th convicted killer executed this year in the United States. Texas has accounted for 12 of the executions.

Before dying, Licho Escamilla looked at the slain officer’s daughter, who was seated a few feet away watching through a window, and told her: “God bless your heart.”

He turned to his own relatives, who were in a separate witness space but could see him through the same glass, and said he loved them and all his supporters.

“Pope Francis, God’s children has asked the state of Texas to switch my death sentence to life in prison,” he said. “But the state of Texas has refused to listen to God’s children.

“They will have to take that up with God,” he added. “Let everyone know it’s not over.”

He took two breaths as the sedative pentobarbital took effect, then became still. His sister cried and screamed for God not to take him. Her wails nearly masked the sound of rumbling motorcycles outside the prison where bikers supporting the punishment gathered.

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review Escamilla’s case last week and no additional appeals were filed as his execution neared. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday decided against a reprieve and clemency.

James and three other uniformed officers were working off-duty security in November 2001 when a brawl started outside a Dallas club. Licho Escamilla, who was involved in the brawl, pulled out a gun and opened fire on the officers as they tried to end the fight.

The bullets from his 9 mm semi-automatic handgun struck James twice, knocking him to the ground. Escamilla then calmly walked up to the officer and fired three more shots into the back of his head before running and exchanging shots with other officers, witnesses said. A second officer wounded in the shootout survived.

A wounded Licho Escamilla was arrested as he tried to carjack a truck.

About a half-dozen Dallas police officers stood at attention and saluted as relatives of the slain officer entered the prison in Huntsville ahead of the execution. More arrived later to show their support and also saluted when they emerged.

“It’s been a long time waiting for justice to be served,” said Kevin Janse, a family spokesman who read a statement afterward. “We will grieve for him forever.

“Kevin was dedicated to making a difference,” he said, referring to James by his middle name. “The night he died he ran straight into gunfire to protect and serve those in harm’s way.”

James, 34, had earned dozens of commendations during his nearly seven years on the Dallas police force after graduating at the top of his cadet class. He was working the off-duty security job to earn extra money so he and his new wife could buy a house.

Escamilla was 19 at the time of the officer’s killing and a warrant had been issued for him in the shooting death of a West Dallas neighbor nearly three weeks earlier.

Escamilla’s trial attorneys told jurors he was responsible for James’ slaying but argued it didn’t merit a death sentence because James wasn’t officially on duty, meaning the crime didn’t qualify as a capital murder.

He was sentenced to death in October 2002. At his trial in Dallas, Escamilla grabbed a water pitcher off the defense table and threw it at the jury as the judge was reading his sentence.

Escamilla also started kicking and hitting people and hid under the table until he was subdued by deputies who triggered an electronic stun belt he was wearing.

Testimony showed Escamilla bragged to emergency medical technicians who were treating his wounds that he had killed an officer and injured another and that he’d be out of jail in 48 hours. He also admitted to the slaying during a television interview from jail.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/2015/10/14/texas-executes-inmate-for-dallas-police-officers-2001-death/

Juan Garcia Texas Execution

Juan Garcia was executed by the State of Texas for a robbery murder. According to court documents Juan Garcia would shoot and kill Hugo Solano during a robbery that netted Garcia $8.00. Juan Garcia would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

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A convicted killer in Texas was executed on Tuesday for fatally shooting another man in a robbery that yielded just $8.

No late appeals were filed for Juan Martin Garcia, who was lethally injected for the September 1998 killing and robbery of Hugo Solano in Houston. Solano, a Christian missionary from Guadalajara, Mexico, had moved his family to the city just weeks earlier so his children could be educated in the US.

Juan Garcia, 35, apologized to Solano’s relatives in Spanish ahead of the execution. Solano’s wife and daughter sobbed and told the inmate they loved him.

“The harm that I did to your dad and husband I hope this brings you closure,” he said. “I never wanted to hurt any of you all.”

He told his sister and several friends in English that he loved them. “No matter what, remember my promise,” Garcia said. “No matter what, I will always be with you.”

As the dose of pentobarbital began, he winced, raised his head and then shook it. He gurgled once and snored once before his movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 12 minutes later, at 6.26pm CDT.

In an interview with the Associated Press last month, Garcia acknowledged he shot Solano but denied the robbery, an accompanying felony that made it a capital case.

Garcia, who was linked to at least eight aggravated robberies and two attempted murders in the weeks before and after Solano’s death, also insisted jurors had unfairly penalized him because he didn’t take the witness stand in his own defense at trial.

The US supreme court refused to review Garcia’s case in March. The Texas pardon and parole board, in a 5-2 vote, refused a clemency request from Garcia last week.

The execution was the 11th this year in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any other US state.

Evidence at the 2000 trial and testimony from a companion identified Garcia, who was 18 at the time of the killing and a street gang member, as the ringleader of four men involved in Solano’s shooting and robbery. The slaying and string of other violent crimes tied to Garcia convinced a Harris county jury he should be put to death.

Three more Texas inmates are scheduled for executions in upcoming weeks.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/07/texas-executes-juan-martin-garcia-over-8-robbery-and

Alfredo Prieto Virginia Execution

Alfredo Prieto, a convicted serial killer, was executed by the State of Virginia for the rape and murder of a woman and her boyfriend. According to court documents Alfredo Prieto would rape and murder 22-year-old Rachael Raver and murder her boyfriend Warren Fulton in 1990. It would take twenty years for Prieto to be convicted of the crimes. When DNA matched him to the 1990 murders he was already on California’s death row for the sexual assault and murder of a fifteen year old girl. Alfredo Prieto would be executed on October 1, 2015 by lethal injection

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Virginia has executed a convicted serial who claimed he was intellectually disabled.

Alfredo Prieto was pronounced dead at 9:17 p.m. on Thursday at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarrat.

The 49-year-old had fought to prove that he’s intellectually disabled to bar the state from putting him to death. But a federal appeals court in Virginia upheld his death sentence in June and the U.S. Supreme Court refused Thursday to block his execution.

Prieto was sentenced to death in Virginia in 2010 for the rape and murder of 22-year-old Rachael Raver and the slaying of her boyfriend Warren Fulton III more than two decades earlier.

The El Salvador native had already been on death row in California for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl at the time.

Prieto thanked his lawyers, supporters and family members before mumbling, “Get this over with.”Virginia has executed a convicted serial who claimed he was intellectually disabled.

Alfredo Prieto was pronounced dead at 9:17 p.m. on Thursday at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarrat.

Prieto was sentenced to death in Virginia in 2010 for the rape and murder of 22-year-old Rachael Raver and the slaying of her boyfriend Warren Fulton III more than two decades earlier.

The El Salvador native had already been on death row in California for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl at the time.

Prieto thanked his lawyers, supporters and family members before mumbling, “Get this over with.”

https://wjla.com/news/local/federal-judge-clears-way-for-virginia-execution