The Death Sentence
The death sentence…that's probably a topic I could easily avoid, but that ain't my nature.
The easiest position for me to take would be to be against it. It would make me look like a kind person. I could shake my head remorsefully about the barbarians who support it. But I'll pass on that opportunity. Count me among the barbarians.
I recall a few years ago when the death penalty was a hot topic, I researched why a fellow here in Texas had been executed. Holy crap. It wasn't for singing in the choir. I would have injected that fellow myself.
Texas is number one in executions. Since the ban on executions was lifted in 1976, Texas has executed 167 inmates. Virginia is number two with 60.
Currently, 32 states and the federal government have the death penalty. The difference between Texas and the other 31 states is that Texas uses it.
Ron White, a native of Fritch, Texas, and comedian, says that Texas has a death penalty and USES it, and, in fact, Texas has an “express lane for murderers.” (See video.)
Presently there are 263 in Texas awaiting execution. California has 743. Of course, it's been a while since California has actually executed anyone. They're such a civilized state.
Take a look at the following beauties currently on death row.
Charles Flores and Lynn Childs on January 29, 1998, during daytime hours in Farmers Branch, Texas, broke into the victim’s house and shot a woman (age 64) dead with a pistol. They were looking for money but found none. The state of Texas gave Flores the consolation prize of a death sentence
On October 10, 2011, Paul Gabriel Hall entered a Brazos County residence occupied by a 68 year old male and female. Hall stabbed and shot the male victim resulting in his death. Hall then stabbed and slashed the throat of the female victim. The female victim survived the attack and was able to call for assistance. Paul, Paul, Paul, pretty antisocial.
Stanley Griffin entered the victim's residence and strangled her with his hands or an unknown object. He also stabbed and attempted to strangle the victim's young son. The victim died as a result of her injuries. Say “Hello,” Stanley, to Hades.
Franklin David used a social media sight, claiming to be someone else, to contact the victim of a previous felony criminal offense in which he was the suspect. On September 6, 2012, he arranged to meet her at her high school. The victim was surprised it was him, but got into the vehicle with the subject when he claimed he wanted to discuss the pending criminal case. He drove them to a trail near the Trinity River and used his .380 caliber pistol to shoot her twice. The victim fell partially into the river, and the subject pulled her onto the bank and stepped on her neck until she stopped breathing. He disposed of the weapon in a nearby pond and was arrested on September 8, 2012. Franklin, you screwed up pretty bad…pretty bad.
Micah Brown threatened and followed the victim in her vehicle which caused the victim to notify the local police department. The police department responded to the scene and observed the subject shoot the victim one time in the head with a 20 gauge shotgun while she was sitting in her vehicle. The subject and the victim's two children were also in the vehicle at the time of the incident. Brown then fled the scene in his vehicle. Of course, he was later arrested, arraigned, tried, convicted and given his just deserts in the way of the death sentence.
Demitrius Smith on March 24, 2005 in Harris County, entered the home of a female and shot her three times at close range, resulting in her death. The victim's daughter, an eleven year old female ran from the residence. Smith followed her and fatally shot her also. He pretty much sealed his doom with the second killing. We don’t like this in Texas.
On March 27, 2004, in Grayson County, Texas, Andre Thomas entered the residence of his wife, a twenty year old female and fatally stabbed her. He then fatally stabbed his son, a 4 year old male, and his step-daughter, a 13 month old female. It was time to fire up Old Sparky.
Demontrell Miller caused the death of a 2 year old male by either striking with his hand, kicking with his foot or striking with an unknown hard object. He will be soon struck with a lethal injection.
A few years ago, a woman, Karla Faye Tucker, received a lot of sympathy as her execution approached. She had a nice personality and was appealing on camera. However, I checked to see what had brought her to death row: during a burglary of a fellow named Dean, Kara Faye and her male companion, Garrett, entered Dean's bedroom where Tucker sat on him. In an effort to protect himself, the victim grabbed Tucker above the elbows, whereupon Garrett intervened. Garrett struck Dean numerous times in the back of the head with a hammer he found on the floor. After hitting Dean, Garrett left the room to carry motorcycle parts out of the apartment. Tucker remained in the bedroom. The blows Garrett had dealt Dean caused his head to become unhinged from his neck and his breathing passages to fill with fluid. He began making a "gurgling" sound characteristic of this type of injury. Tucker wanted to "stop him from making that noise" and attacked him with a pickaxe. Garrett then re-entered the room and dealt Dean a final blow in the chest.
Garrett left the bedroom again to continue loading Dean's motorcycle parts into his Ranchero. Tucker was once again left in the room and only then noticed a woman who had hidden under the bed covers against the wall. The woman, Deborah Thornton, had met Dean at a party earlier that afternoon. Upon discovering Thornton, Karla Faye grazed her shoulder with the pickaxe. Thornton and Tucker began to struggle, but Garrett returned and separated them. Karla Faye proceeded to hit Thornton repeatedly with the pickaxe and then embedded the axe in her heart. Tucker would later tell friends and testify that she experienced intense multiple orgasms with each blow of the pickaxe.
If I were to feel bad about the execution of these folks, where would that feeling originate? Hell?
“We should just warehouse these bad folks in prisons. What if we convict and execute an innocent person?” Life is filled with “what ifs,” and I live in a practical world, and, yes, I know we make mistakes.
The Lord seems to have seen fit to place these monsters among us, and I think he wouldn’t mind if we remove them. And to those who argue that life in prison is worse than the death penalty; maybe, but I have no way of verifying this. Is the death penalty a deterrent to murders? Probably not: monsters are monsters.
The point is that in Texas if you kill someone, we kill you back. Yes, I believe in forgiveness, but as a practical matter, these folks must go. The Lord can deal with them as he sees fit. We've done our job.
enough
MM
