texas death row | My Crime Library

Emanuel Kemp Texas Death Row

Emanuel Kemp was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for the sexual assault and murder of a woman. According to court documents Emanuel Kemp would sexually assault and stab to death a woman on a bus. Emanuel Kemp would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Emanuel Kemp 2022 Information

SID Number: 03079730

TDCJ Number: 00000909

Name: KEMP,EMANUEL JR.

Race: B

Gender: M

Age: 56

Maximum Sentence Date: DEATH ROW

Current Facility: POLUNSKY

Projected Release Date: DEATH ROW

Parole Eligibility Date: DEATH ROW

Inmate Visitation Eligible: YES

Emanuel Kemp More News

A Tarrant County judge called off the upcoming execution of Emanuel Kemp, a Fort Worth killer once deemed too insane to be put to death.

But his scheduled punishment was canceled not over concerns about his sanity, but in light of a need for further DNA testing, according to court filings.

Kemp was scheduled to die on Nov. 7 for a decades-old crime. The high-school dropout had been out of prison for just five days when he hijacked a public transit bus at knifepoint in 1987, forcing the driver to drive around town while he raped and murdered the only passenger, Johnnie Mae Gray.

The 34-year-old died from nine stab wounds to the chest and throat according to Texas prison records. The driver was stabbed in the neck but lived.

Kemp was arrested three days later and sent to death row the following year after a whirlwind six-day trial.

In the years after his conviction, Kemp was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, according to his attorney, Greg Westfall.

He has been very psychotic to entirely utterly out there since about 1990,” Westfall said.

By the mid-90s, one court deemed Kemp incompetent for execution, though a higher court later reversed that decision after years of medication.

Since then, his attorneys raised claims of bad lawyering, violations of due process, questions about jury selection and denial of funds to get mental health experts.

After he lost in federal court in the early 2000s, according to Westfall, the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office under another administration agreed not to seek another death date – so the decision to schedule a November execution came as a surprise to defense counsel

“It was agreed that he was too insane to execute,” Westfall said earlier this year. “Since then, the leadership there has changed and now they have sought an execution date. It was really out of the blue.”

But on Friday, the trial court greenlit an order withdrawing the execution date “so that matters related to his Motion for Forensic DNA Testing Can be fully litigated,” according to court filings.

The state, according the paperwork notes, has agreed to the motion.

Neither Westfall nor the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office could be reached Monday for comment.

The canceled execution is now the second death date called off from Tarrant County in the past week.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday stayed an October death date scheduled for Juan Segundo, who was sent to death row in 2005 for the cold case murder of 11-year-old Vanessa Villa. The order opens the door to investigate claims that he’s too intellectually disabled to be put to death.

With Segundo’s date called off, Kwame Rockwell – also from Tarrant County – is the next prisoner scheduled to die. The Lone Star State has executed 10 men so far in 2018. There are another six death dates on the calendar in the coming months, including two in 2019.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Execution-date-called-off-for-Fort-Worth-killer-13290123.php

Clarence Jordan Texas Death Row

Clarence Jordan was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for the murder of a man during a robbery. According to court documents Clarence Jordan would rob a food market and would shoot and kill a clerk during the robbery. Clarence Jordan would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Clarence Jordan 2022 Information

SID Number: 01830291

TDCJ Number: 00000609

Name: JORDAN,CLARENCE CURTIS

Race: B

Gender: M

Age: 65

Maximum Sentence Date: DEATH ROW

Current Facility: ESTELLE

Projected Release Date: DEATH ROW

Parole Eligibility Date: DEATH ROW

Inmate Visitation Eligible: YES

Clarence Jordan More News

The testimony of George Harden reflected that on October 14, 1977 he was the manager of a Rice Food Market located at 8610 South Park, Houston. Clarence Jordan entered his office at the store on that date and after asking for a job application drew a pistol from his shirt and put the gun “between my eyes.” In response to appellant’s request, Harden gave appellant his car keys but told him that his car was in the shop. Clarence Jordan then told Harden to get up, “come to the front and give him the money.” An employee, Joe Williams, entered the office and appellant pushed Williams into Harden. Appellant asked Williams to “sit down, get up, sit down, get up.” After Williams stated he did not own a car after appellant had demanded his keys, appellant shot Williams in the right part of his chest. Appellant then directed Harden to go to the front and get him the money. En route to the front of the store another employee, Johnny Taylor, was encountered. Clarence Jordan put the gun behind his ear and ordered him to go to the front with Harden. Upon approaching the “courtesy booth” where the money was kept, Harden told the employee in the booth, Geraldine James, to give appellant the money. As appellant would receive bundles of bills from the booth he would order Harden to place them in a sack for him. Clarence Jordan told Harden that he was going with him, but when appellant took off running, Harden managed to get behind a drink machine. During the time the money was being passed out of the booth to appellant, “he was standing there waving the gun” and telling the people in the store “to all go to the back of the store and not come back.”

Ike Warner testified that he and Laura Frank were en route to an Eckerd’s Drug Store in his car in the same shopping center in which the Rice Food Market in question was located on October 14, 1977. A man identified as appellant jumped in the car with a gun in his hand and directed Warner to drive away. Appellant directed Warner as to where to go by telling him “to turn here, turn there.” Appellant was carrying a money sack. After driving “five or ten minutes” appellant directed Warner to stop, appellant got out and told Warner “to take off and don’t look back.”

A number of employees identified appellant as the person who was the robber at the store.

Chief Medical Examiner Joseph Jachimczyk testified that Williams, a forty-year-old black male, died as a result of a .38 caliber gunshot wound to the chest.

Appellant did not offer any evidence at the guilt stage of the trial.

https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/court-of-criminal-appeals/1986/69281-4.html

Shelton Jones Texas Death Row

Shelton Jones was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for the murder of a police officer. According to court documents Shelton Jones was pulled over by a Houston police officer for questioning however Jones would pull out a gun and fired several times at the officer striking and killing him. Shelton Jones would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Shelton Jones 2022 Information

SID Number: 04491455

TDCJ Number: 00999019

Name: JONES,SHELTON DENORIA

Race: B

Gender: M

Age: 54

Maximum Sentence Date: DEATH ROW

Current Facility: COUNTY BENCH WARRANT

Projected Release Date: DEATH ROW

Parole Eligibility Date: DEATH ROW

Shelton Jones More News

The Harris County District Attorney is once again seeking the death penalty against a convicted cop killer who won a new punishment trial nearly three decades after the slaying of a Houston police officer.

Shelton Jones was originally sent to death row for the April 1991 murder of Officer Bruno D. Soboleski, but a federal district court overturned his sentence in light of bad jury instructions.

“We put police officers in harm’s way to protect us from violence, and it is our duty to forever protect society from this killer,” District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement Monday. “Sgt. Soboleski’s family was forever changed by this horrific attack, and no matter how long it takes, Jones deserves the ultimate punishment.”

The night of the slaying, Soboleski was on patrol and driving in his squad car with a grand juror when he spotted two men at the intersection of Calhoun and Hull near the University of Houston.

Soboleski stopped the pair, though it’s not entirely clear why. As he searched them, Jones pulled out a 9mm pistol and started shooting, according to court records. After the officer fell to the pavement, Jones shot him again, then fled with his confederate.

Afterward, a third man opened fire, getting off six rounds but missing the officer. Instead, he shot up the lawman’s patrol car where the grand juror was trying to radio for help.

The grand juror escaped unscathed, while Soboleski lingered in the hospital for five days, undergoing multiple surgeries before dying in intensive care.

Longtime Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes prosecuted the case personally, winning a guilty verdict and a death sentence.

But for nearly three decades, Jones has fought his sentence, raising a slew of concerns including claims about the effects of widespread publicity and police presence in the courtroom.

The media coverage at the time included a letter to the editor suggesting Jones be hung from a “tall tree” with a “short rope,” according to court filings. He tried for a change of venue in light of the press, and later argued that the 15 to 25 officers in the courtroom had prejudiced jurors, implicitly demanding a guilty verdict with their presence.

At one point, Jones also asked for additional funding for investigative findings and discovery, but the courts determined that they weren’t “reasonably necessary.” Even though the courts denied his appeals on those grounds, Jones won a new punishment phase over on bad jury instructions.

And, since life without parole was not a sentencing option at the time of his crime, Jones could be eligible for parole some day if the jury rejects a death sentence, Ogg said. Defense attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Harris-County-DA-to-seek-death-again-on-13804920.php

Ramiro Ibarra Texas Death Row

Ramiro Ibarra was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for the sexual assault and murder of a teenager. According to court documents Ramiro Ibarra would attack the sixteen year old girl who was babysitting. The teenager would be sexually assaulted and murdered with an electrical cord. Ramiro Ibarra would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Ramiro Ibarra 2022 Information

SID Number: 03011953

TDCJ Number: 00999247

Name: IBARRA,RAMIRO RUBI

Race: H

Gender: M

Age: 67

Maximum Sentence Date: DEATH ROW CUMULATIVE OFFENSES

Current Facility: POLUNSKY

Projected Release Date: DEATH ROW

Parole Eligibility Date: DEATH ROW

Inmate Visitation Eligible: YES

Ramiro Ibarra More News

A pedophile who raped and killed a teenager using an electric cord will be executed after his latest appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court. The execution date of Ramiro Rubi Ibarra has also been set and most probably he will be executed on March 4, 2021.

The 66-year-old convicted rapist has spent 23 years of his life on death row for the rape and gruesome murder of Maria De La Paz Zuniga in Waco in 1987. According to reports, Maria was sixteen when Ramiro Ibarra killed her. The teenager was babysitting her nephews at her family’s home in Waco when the rapist, a family acquaintance, attacked her. He not just beat and raped her, but also strangled her with an electrical cord, trial testimony stated.

Maria’s bruised, bloody, and partially undressed body was later found by her brother Francisco Zuniga who came home to pick her up for shopping. The victim’s face seemed to be beaten while her throat and shoulders were wrapped in a yellow wire at the time of discovery. Maria’s dress was also pulled over her waist and her underwear was ripped off by the criminal.

Ramiro Ibarra was soon arrested and identified as the suspect into the case as DNA samples taken from him matched the blood found under the mangled victim’s fingernails and semen left in her body and on her underwear. The same yellow wire that was used to strangle Maria was also found in his car by police. But Ibarra escaped trial and was released from jail due to an improper search warrant until 1996 when he was arrested once again.

Over the years, the convicted rapist tried several excuses to avoid a death sentence. First, he claimed, he was mentally unfit to stand a trial. He then used his Mexican citizenship to avoid execution as he claimed that being from another country, he should have been given legal assistance from the Mexican Consulate after his arrest — an alleged violation of international agreements. But both of his bids failed.

In 2012, Ramiro Ibarra came with another avenue to get a life sentence instead of death and claimed that his lawyers failed to demonstrate his extreme childhood poverty and physical and emotional abuse from his father. He believed that the evidence of his disturbed childhood could have convinced jurors to choose a life sentence for him, but the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Ibarra’s claim at the time.

And this time again, in late June, the Supreme Court without comment rejected Ibarra’s bid, and on July 27, prosecutors filed the proposed execution date. His federal appellate attorney, Russ Hunt Jr, said he will continue to fight against the death sentence. Hunt said: “Of course we are very disappointed that as of this point we have not been able to get him relief through the appellate process. But we will continue pursuing whatever avenues we are able to.”

It has been also reported that after his capital murder trial in Waco,Ramiro Ibarra was convicted for sexually assaulting his nephew in Bell County and get a life sentence. However, it’s not clear when the assault happened.

https://meaww.com/texas-pedophile-who-raped-choked-teen-with-cord-to-death-will-be-executed-after-appeals-fail

Anthony Haynes Texas Death Row

Anthony Haynes was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for the murder of an off duty police officer. According to court documents Anthony Haynes was driving a vehicle that shot at another vehicle. The driver of the second vehicle got out and asked Anthony Haynes what hit his vehicle and Haynes responded by pulling out a gun and shooting the man who turned out to be an off duty police officer. Anthony Haynes would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death

Anthony Haynes 2022 Information

SID Number: 06309220

TDCJ Number: 00999330

Name: HAYNES,ANTHONY CARDELL

Race: B

Gender: M

Age: 42

Maximum Sentence Date: DEATH ROW

Current Facility: POLUNSKY

Projected Release Date: DEATH ROW

Parole Eligibility Date: DEATH ROW

Inmate Visitation Eligible: YES

Anthony Haynes More News

A death row inmate convicted of killing a Houston police officer nearly two decades ago could be one step closer to an execution date after the Supreme Court turned down his latest appeal.

Anthony Haynes narrowly avoided the death chamber seven years ago with a last-minute stay over claims his case was tainted by bad lawyering. Again, concerns about ineffective attorneys landed him in front of the Supreme Court last year – but this time the justices didn’t lean in his favor.

The high court without comment rejected the 39-year-old’s appeal on Monday. He’s now eligible for an execution date

Defense attorney Richard Ellis said he was “very disappointed” with the court’s decision, pointing out that the lower court was split on whether to deny his client’s appeal last year, and that one judge penned a “vigorous dissent” showing how the case “never had the review that the Supreme Court itself requested.”

The Harris County man was 19 and on meth in May 1998 when he and two friends started driving around town in his father’s pick-up, sticking up some pedestrians and making off with their wallets, according to court records.

Later in the night, the group drove by off-duty Houston police Sgt. Kent Kincaid and his wife, who were on their way to a sports bar. Something cracked the couple’s windshield – and Kincaid realized it was a bullet.

Out of uniform, Kincaid pulled over and climbed out to approach Haynes, asking to see his drivers’ license, according to court records.

“You hit my window,” Kincaid told him. Haynes responded that he “accidentally threw something” at the window. The officer reached back to get his police ID – but Haynes opened fire, hitting Kincaid in the head then fleeing, according to court records. He was arrested afterward when police traced the truck back to his father.

Haynes later confessed to the slaying, but said that he didn’t know Kincaid was a police officer – a key element in making the killing into a capital crime

Nonetheless, he was sentenced to death and nearly executed in 2012. Two hours before he was to die, the Supreme Court granted a stay over claims of ineffective attorneys earlier in the case

His appeals team argued that better lawyers earlier on could have shown that he wasn’t likely to be a future danger and could have lived the rest of his life in prison without posing a threat.

For the past seven years, his appeals have continued winding through the courts, finally ending up back in front of the Supreme Court in the fall, again over claims of bad lawyering.

This time, Ellis argued that the court had never really examined the underlying facts since the last execution date, and he brought up the nearly 40 witnesses who would have been willing to testify on his behalf had the trial team not been so “massively” deficient.

The state responded with a filing asking the Supreme Court not to greenlight the appeal, calling the claims “procedurally unsound and meritless.”

Currently, Ellis said, Haynes does not have any pending appeals

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Convicted-cop-killer-Anthony-Haynes-turned-down-13533101.php