BlackRain
06-22-2006, 12:36 PM
'This is some nasty,' dying inmate says
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/LAW/06/21/texas.execution.ap/vert.reese.ap.jpg
Lamont Reese
HUNTSVILLE -- Lamont Reese, a Fort Worth drug dealer and gang member who led an assault-rifle rampage sparked by flirtatious remarks toward his girlfriend, went to his death Tuesday evening as his mother screamed and kicked two holes in the wall in a room adjacent to the execution chamber.
Reese, who was 21 when the triple murder was committed in 1999, protested his innocence before the lethal dose was administered and appeared to boast that he had to be carried by prison guards to the gurney in Huntsville's Walls Unit.
"I want everyone to know that I did not walk to [the death chamber] because this is straight-up murder," said Reese, who was strapped to the gurney and covered to the chest with a white sheet.
"I am not going to play a part in my own murder."
In a room separated from the death chamber by reinforced glass, the condemned man's mother squealed and sobbed loudly, and she pounded on both the window and the wall.
"Please, Jesus, please," said Brenda Reese, who was comforted by others in the witness room and later collapsed on the prison grounds. "Oh, God! They killed my baby."
Reese, who gave a lengthy final statement, choked out his last words, which were cut short by the lethal drugs.
"This is some nasty," he said, not finishing the sentence. He was pronounced dead at 6:27 p.m.
Reese, 28, was convicted of the March 1, 1999, shootings outside the Stop & Shop convenience store at 2601 S. Riverside Drive. Three men were killed, and a fourth man and a teenage boy were wounded. Police said the shooting started because men hanging out at the store made flirtatious remarks to Reese's girlfriend.
Killed were Riki Jackson, 17, Alonzo Stewart, 26, and Anthony Roney, 25.
According to testimony at his capital murder trial, Reese went to the Stop & Shop with his girlfriend, Kareema Kimbrough.
Outside was a group of men drinking and shooting dice. When Kimbrough, 18, went outside, she exchanged words with the men, who were said to be members of a gang that was a rival to Reese's.
Hearing that the men had flirted with Kimbrough, the 21-year-old Reese went home to gather up friends and firearms and returned. Kimbrough drove, and her 2-year-old son was brought along for the ride, according to testimony.
Kimbrough was also convicted of capital murder and is serving a life sentence. Jason Leadley, Brian Johnson and Steven Kindred pleaded guilty and are serving sentences ranging from 35 years to 50 years in prison.
Reese spent his final day in a holding cell outside Huntsville's death chamber. There, he packed up his personal belongings, showered and read before visiting with his family and friends, officials said.
Prison officials described his mood as upbeat. He requested a bountiful last meal that included fajitas with cheese, jalapeņos and sour cream. He also asked for enchiladas, soft beef tacos with salsa, a bacon cheeseburger, fried chicken, pizza and chicken salad with ranch dressing.
The U.S. Supreme Court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Reese's final appeals earlier in the day. The appeals were based on claims that he was mentally retarded and that Texas' application of the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
In addition to his mother, Reese invited four friends and his spiritual adviser to witness his execution.
In the chamber on behalf of the victims were LaBarbara Smith and Fredrick Smith, the sister and brother-in-law of Roney; and Betty Sue Nelson and Harold Eugene Nelson, mother and stepfather of Stewart.
Addressing them, Reese insisted that he had no part in the killings.
"I don't know how you feel about me," Reese said. "And whether you believe it or not, I did not kill them. I want you all to have peace.
"You have to move past it. It's time to move on."
They offered no reaction to the condemned man's final words or the mother's outburst, and they declined to speak with reporters afterward.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/14867621.htm
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/LAW/06/21/texas.execution.ap/vert.reese.ap.jpg
Lamont Reese
HUNTSVILLE -- Lamont Reese, a Fort Worth drug dealer and gang member who led an assault-rifle rampage sparked by flirtatious remarks toward his girlfriend, went to his death Tuesday evening as his mother screamed and kicked two holes in the wall in a room adjacent to the execution chamber.
Reese, who was 21 when the triple murder was committed in 1999, protested his innocence before the lethal dose was administered and appeared to boast that he had to be carried by prison guards to the gurney in Huntsville's Walls Unit.
"I want everyone to know that I did not walk to [the death chamber] because this is straight-up murder," said Reese, who was strapped to the gurney and covered to the chest with a white sheet.
"I am not going to play a part in my own murder."
In a room separated from the death chamber by reinforced glass, the condemned man's mother squealed and sobbed loudly, and she pounded on both the window and the wall.
"Please, Jesus, please," said Brenda Reese, who was comforted by others in the witness room and later collapsed on the prison grounds. "Oh, God! They killed my baby."
Reese, who gave a lengthy final statement, choked out his last words, which were cut short by the lethal drugs.
"This is some nasty," he said, not finishing the sentence. He was pronounced dead at 6:27 p.m.
Reese, 28, was convicted of the March 1, 1999, shootings outside the Stop & Shop convenience store at 2601 S. Riverside Drive. Three men were killed, and a fourth man and a teenage boy were wounded. Police said the shooting started because men hanging out at the store made flirtatious remarks to Reese's girlfriend.
Killed were Riki Jackson, 17, Alonzo Stewart, 26, and Anthony Roney, 25.
According to testimony at his capital murder trial, Reese went to the Stop & Shop with his girlfriend, Kareema Kimbrough.
Outside was a group of men drinking and shooting dice. When Kimbrough, 18, went outside, she exchanged words with the men, who were said to be members of a gang that was a rival to Reese's.
Hearing that the men had flirted with Kimbrough, the 21-year-old Reese went home to gather up friends and firearms and returned. Kimbrough drove, and her 2-year-old son was brought along for the ride, according to testimony.
Kimbrough was also convicted of capital murder and is serving a life sentence. Jason Leadley, Brian Johnson and Steven Kindred pleaded guilty and are serving sentences ranging from 35 years to 50 years in prison.
Reese spent his final day in a holding cell outside Huntsville's death chamber. There, he packed up his personal belongings, showered and read before visiting with his family and friends, officials said.
Prison officials described his mood as upbeat. He requested a bountiful last meal that included fajitas with cheese, jalapeņos and sour cream. He also asked for enchiladas, soft beef tacos with salsa, a bacon cheeseburger, fried chicken, pizza and chicken salad with ranch dressing.
The U.S. Supreme Court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Reese's final appeals earlier in the day. The appeals were based on claims that he was mentally retarded and that Texas' application of the death penalty violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
In addition to his mother, Reese invited four friends and his spiritual adviser to witness his execution.
In the chamber on behalf of the victims were LaBarbara Smith and Fredrick Smith, the sister and brother-in-law of Roney; and Betty Sue Nelson and Harold Eugene Nelson, mother and stepfather of Stewart.
Addressing them, Reese insisted that he had no part in the killings.
"I don't know how you feel about me," Reese said. "And whether you believe it or not, I did not kill them. I want you all to have peace.
"You have to move past it. It's time to move on."
They offered no reaction to the condemned man's final words or the mother's outburst, and they declined to speak with reporters afterward.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/14867621.htm