The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Texas between 1982 (when the state resumed executions) to 1989. All of the 33 people during this period were convicted of murder and have been executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas. [1] [2]
The number in the "#" column indicates the nth person executed since 1982 (when Texas resumed the death penalty). Thus, Charles Brooks Jr. was not only the first person executed in the 1980 decade, he was also the first person executed since Texas resumed the death penalty.
1982 – 1 execution | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
# | Executed person | Ethnicity | Age | Sex | Date of execution | County | Victim(s) | Governor |
1 | Charles Brooks Jr. | Black | 40 | M | 07-Dec-1982 | Tarrant | David Gregory | Bill Clements |
1984 – 3 executions | ||||||||
2 | James David Autry | White | 29 | M | 14-Mar-1984 | Jefferson | Shirley Drouet and Joe Broussard | Mark White |
3 | Ronald Clark O'Bryan | White | 39 | M | 31-Mar-1984 | Harris | Timothy O'Bryan | |
4 | Thomas Andy Barefoot | White | 39 | M | 30-Oct-1984 | Bell | Harker Heights police officer Carl Irving LeVin | |
1985 – 6 executions | ||||||||
5 | Doyle Edward Skillern [4] | White | 49 | M | 16-Jan-1985 | Lubbock [lower-alpha 1] | TDPS narcotics agent Patrick Randel | |
6 | Stephen Peter Morin | White | 34 | M | 13-Mar-1985 | Jefferson | Carrie Marie Scott, Janna Bruce, and Shiela Whalen | |
7 | Jesse De La Rosa | Hispanic | 24 | M | 15-May-1985 | Bexar | Masaoud Ghazali | |
8 | Charles Milton | Black | 34 | M | 25-Jun-1985 | Tarrant | Manaree Denton | |
9 | Henry Martinez Porter [5] | Hispanic | 43 | M | 09-Jul-1985 | Fort Worth police officer Henry Mailloux | ||
10 | Charles Francis Rumbaugh | White | 28 | M | 11-Sep-1985 | Potter | Michael Fiorello | |
1986 – 10 executions | ||||||||
11 | Charles William Bass [6] | White | 30 | M | 12-Mar-1986 | Harris | Houston City Marshall Charles Baker | |
12 | Jeffery Allen Barney | White | 28 | M | 16-Apr-1986 | Ruby Mae Longsworth | ||
13 | Jay Kelly Pinkerton | White | 24 | M | 15-May-1986 | Nueces | Sarah Donn Lawrence | |
14 | Rudy Ramos Esquivel [7] | Hispanic | 50 | M | 09-Jun-1986 | Harris | Houston police officer Timothy Hearn | |
15 | Kenneth Albert Brock | White | 37 | M | 19-Jun-1986 | Michael Sedita | ||
16 | Randy Lynn Woolls | White | 36 | M | 20-Aug-1986 | Tom Green | Betty Stotts | |
17 | Larry Smith | Black | 30 | M | 22-Aug-1986 | Dallas | Mike Mason | |
18 | Chester Lee Wicker | White | 37 | M | 26-Aug-1986 | Galveston | Suzanne Knuth | |
19 | Michael Wayne Evans [8] | Black | 30 | M | 04-Dec-1986 | Dallas | Elvira Guerrero and Mario Garza | |
20 | Richard Andrade | Hispanic | 25 | M | 18-Dec-1986 | Nueces | Cordelia Mae Guevara | |
1987 – 6 executions | ||||||||
21 | Ramon Pedro Hernandez | Hispanic | 44 | M | 30-Jan-1987 | El Paso | Oscar Martin Frayre | Bill Clements |
22 | Eliseo Hernandez Moreno [9] | Hispanic | 27 | M | 04-Mar-1987 | Fort Bend | 6 murder victims [lower-alpha 2] | |
23 | Anthony Charles Williams | Black | 27 | M | 28-May-1987 | Harris | Vickie Lynn Wright | |
24 | Elliot Rod Johnson [10] | Black | 38 | M | 24-Jun-1987 | Jefferson | Joseph Granado and Arturo Melendez | |
25 | John Russell Thompson | White | 32 | M | 08-Jul-1987 | Bexar | Mary Knuepper | |
26 | Joseph Blaine Starvaggi | White | 34 | M | 10-Sep-1987 | Montgomery | John Denson | |
1988 – 3 executions | ||||||||
27 | Robert L. Streetman | White | 27 | M | 07-Jan-1988 | Hardin | Christine Baker | |
28 | Donald Gene Franklin | Black | 37 | M | 03-Nov-1988 | Nueces | Mary Margaret Moran | |
29 | Raymond Landry, Sr. | Black | 39 | M | 13-Dec-1988 | Harris | Kosmas Prittis | |
1989 – 4 executions | ||||||||
30 | Leon Rutherford King | Black | 44 | M | 22-Mar-1989 | Harris | Michael Underwood | |
31 | Stephen A. McCoy | White | 40 | M | 24-May-1989 | Cynthia Johnson | ||
32 | James Emery Paster | White | 44 | M | 20-Sep-1989 | Robert Howard | ||
33 | Carlos DeLuna | Hispanic | 27 | M | 07-Dec-1989 | Nueces | Wanda Jean Lopez | |
Preceded by List of people executed in Texas, 1960–1964 | Lists of people executed in Texas | Succeeded by List of people executed in Texas, 1990–1999 |
The Texas 7 were a group of prisoners who escaped from the John B. Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas, on December 13, 2000. Six of the seven were apprehended over a month later, between January 22–24, 2001, as a direct result of the television show America's Most Wanted. The seventh committed suicide before he could be arrested. The surviving members were all convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Irving, Texas, police officer Aubrey Wright Hawkins, who was shot and killed when responding to a robbery perpetrated by the Texas Seven. Four of the six sentenced have since been executed.
In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 20 states currently have the ability to execute death sentences, with the other seven, as well as the federal government, being subject to different types of moratoriums.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Ohio, although all executions have been suspended indefinitely by Governor Mike DeWine until a replacement for lethal injection is chosen by the Ohio General Assembly. The last execution in the state was in July 2018, when Robert J. Van Hook was executed via lethal injection for murder.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Nebraska. In 2015, the state legislature voted to repeal the death penalty, overriding governor Pete Ricketts' veto. However, a petition drive secured enough signatures to suspend the repeal until a public vote. In the November 2016 general election, voters rejected the repeal measure, preserving capital punishment in the state. Nebraska currently has 12 inmates on death row.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.
The list of people executed by the U.S. state of Texas, with the exception of 1819–1849, is divided into periods of 10 years.
Charles Brooks Jr., also known as Shareef Ahmad Abdul-Rahim, was a convicted murderer who was the first person to be executed using lethal injection. He was the first prisoner executed in Texas since 1964, and the first African-American to be executed anywhere in the United States in the post-Gregg era.
James David Autry was a convicted murderer in the U.S. state of Texas, executed by lethal injection.
Keith Bernard Clay and Shannon Charles Thomas were American murderers who killed a total of four people between December 1993 and January 1994. Thomas was convicted of the Christmas Eve, 1993 murders of 32-year-old Roberto Rios and his two children: 10-year-old Maria Rios and her 11-year-old brother, Victor Rios, in their Baytown, Texas home. Clay had also been present during the killings and confessed to attacking Roberto. Clay was convicted of the 1994 murder of a gas station clerk, during which Thomas was present. The killing occurred less than two weeks after the Rios family murders. Both were executed by lethal injection by the U.S. state of Texas, in 2003 and 2005, respectively.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Texas for murder, and participation in a felony resulting in death if committed by an individual who has attained or is over the age of 18.
The Brownstone Lane murders were the mass murders of four people at a residence on Brownstone Lane in Houston, Texas. On June 20, 1992, three men tied up six people and shot all of them in the head execution-style. Four of the six victims died. The perpetrators: Marion Butler Dudley, Arthur "Squirt" Brown Jr., and Antonia "Tony" Lamone Dunson were convicted of capital murder. Dudley and Brown were sentenced to death, while Dunson was sentenced to life in prison.
Allan B. Polunsky Unit is a prison in West Livingston, unincorporated Polk County, Texas, United States, located approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) southwest of Livingston along Farm to Market Road 350. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the facility. The unit houses the State of Texas death row for men, and it has a maximum capacity of 2,900. Livingston Municipal Airport is located on the other side of FM 350. The unit, along the Big Thicket, is 60 miles (97 km) east of Huntsville.
O. B. Ellis Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison located in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, 12 miles (19 km) north of Huntsville. The unit, with about 11,427 acres (4,624 ha) of space, now houses up to 2,400 male prisoners. Ellis is situated in a wooded area shared with the Estelle Unit, which is located 3 miles (4.8 km) away from Ellis. From 1965 to 1999 it was the location of the State of Texas men's death row.
Elroy Chester was an American serial killer who committed five murders in Texas. He was convicted and sentenced to death for one of the murders, and was executed in 2013.
Johnny Frank Garrett was a death row prisoner executed by the State of Texas.
Larry Allen Hayes was an American spree killer who was executed in Texas for the murders of two women in Montgomery County. On July 15, 1999, Hayes shot and killed his wife, 46-year-old Mary Hayes, at their Woodloch home, then drove to a nearby convenience store and fatally shot the clerk, 18-year-old Rosalyn Robinson. Hayes was convicted of capital murder, waived all appeals, and was executed via lethal injection in 2003. His execution drew attention as it was noted by the Associated Press that he was the first white person to be executed in Texas for killing a black person.