[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----TEXAS, S.C., GA., FLA., KY. ARK.

[Rick Halperin]

September 28



TEXAS:

Killer felt lethal injection 'burn' during execution----Texas man executed 
after torturing and drowning roommate

A Texas inmate who taunted a jury to sentence him to death was executed 
Wednesday evening for torturing and drowning an East Texas woman in his bathtub 
and then stuffing her body into a barrel.

Troy Clark was condemned for the May 1998 slaying of a former roommate, 
Christina Muse of Tyler. Authorities said that Clark, a drug dealer, had 
worried that Muse would snitch on him.

Clark chuckled as he addressed several friends watching through a window a few 
feet from him, telling them a number of times that he loved them and "it's all 
good."

"I'm not the one who killed Christina," he said. "But, hey, whatever makes you 
happy."

Troy Clark said he could feel a lethal dose of penobarbital course through his 
veins just before his death.

As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital was administered, Clark was 
laughing and remarked that the drug "burned going in."

"I feel it," he said. Then he grunted, gasped and began to snore. Seconds 
later, all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 21 minutes later at 6:36pm.

Margaret Bouman, Muse's aunt, said witnessing the execution was a tough 
experience but "kind of bittersweet."

"I'm a Christian and the death penalty and accepting it was very, very 
difficult for me," Bouman said. "But I also believe the law of the land is 
important."

She also said that Clark's attitude during the procedure was troubling.

The 51-year-old Clark became the 17th inmate put to death this year in the US 
and the 9th given a lethal injection in Texas, the nation's busiest capital 
punishment state.

Clark was the 1st of 2 executions this week in Texas. Daniel Acker was executed 
Thursday for fatally running over his girlfriend in a jealous rage more than 18 
years ago.

Asked by the warden if he had any final statement, Acker replied: "No, sir."

He closed his eyes, took a breath, then slightly exhaled as the lethal dose of 
the sedative pentobarbital began taking effect.

There was no additional movement.

He was pronounced dead 14 minutes later at 6:25pm.

At least 8 other Texas inmates have planned execution dates in the coming 
months.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to recommend a commutation of 
Clark's sentence.

After his conviction, Clark had argued his trial attorneys failed to present 
evidence of his childhood, marked by physical and emotional abuse, which might 
have convinced jurors to spare his life.

Appeals courts had previously ruled that because of the overwhelming case 
against Clark, it's likely he still would have been sentenced to death even if 
the jury had heard evidence of his troubled childhood.

Prosecutors said Clark subdued Muse, 20, with a stun gun, bound her with duct 
tape and left her in a closet for several hours while he played video games and 
sold drugs to a customer.

Clark later moved Muse to a bathroom where he hit her with a board and 
threatened his girlfriend, Tory Bush, into helping him drown Muse in the tub.

Muse's body was then stuffed into a barrel with cement mix and lime before 
being dumped in a ravine.

Against the advice of his attorneys, Clark testified during his trial's 
punishment phase, saying, "I really ain't got no story to tell. It's just I 
want the death penalty."

Prosecutors also presented evidence Clark had committed two other murders, 
including one that occurred after Muse's death but prior to his arrest.

The Smith County District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted Clark, declined 
to comment.

Bobby Mims, one of Clark's trial attorneys, said Clark denied killing Muse.

"But there was pretty strong evidence that he was guilty. Tory Bush was pretty 
damning," Mims said.

Bush, who testified against Clark, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Mims said he and his co-counsel were ineffective during the punishment phase in 
presenting evidence of Clark's troubled childhood, which included having a 
mother who was incarcerated for most of his life and who introduced him to 
drugs.

Mims said when Clark's case was tried in 2000, most defence attorneys didn't 
focus on presenting mitigating evidence of a defendant's problematic life as 
part of their efforts to prevent a death sentence.

The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals had previously denied Clark's appeals on 
this issue, saying in 2012 that Clark refused to let his trial attorneys 
contact family as well as others to testify on his behalf.

"At the punishment hearing, the prosecutors actually had 1 or 2 of (Clark's) 
own relatives show up and they had indicated they wanted him to get the death 
penalty. It was crazy," Mims said.

Mims said he doesn't know if evidence of Clark's troubled life would have made 
a difference with the jury.

"I hope he's made peace with his maker," Mims said.

Clark and Acker became the 9th and 10th condemned inmates to be put to death 
this year in Texas, which has now executed 555 inmates since it resumed capital 
punishment on December 7, 1982. 36 executions have been carried out since Greg 
Abbott became Governor of Texas.

The 2 executions upped America's total this year to 18, and increased the 
overall number of executions in the USA to 1,483 since executions resumed on 
January 17, 1977.

There are at least 8 serious execution dates scheduled in the nation before the 
end of the year; 23 executions were carried out in the USA in 2017.

(sources: 9news.com.au & Rick Halperin)








SOUTH CAROLINA:

'I will kill you!': Accused Fort Mill Peach Stand killer assaults jailer, 
police say



The accused killer of a beloved teen clerk at Fort Mill's Peach Stand faces a 
new charge after he assaulted and threatened to kill a female jail officer, 
police said.

Christopher Benjamin Mendez, 29, an inmate at the York County, South Carolina 
jail, grabbed the woman's arms through a slot in his jail cell and told her, "I 
will kill you!" according to a York County Sheriff's Office report.

The incident happened during lunch service Tuesday, and was captured on jail 
surveillance video, police said.

The female officer was hurt and required treatment at an emergency room, police 
said.

She had "visible injuries to her arms," police said.

Mendez was charged with assault and battery against the officer, said Trent 
Faris, spokesman for the sheriff's office.

It remains unclear if other charges will be pending.

Mendez is accused of murder and could face the death penalty in the Jan. 23 
shooting death of Karson Whitesell.

Whitesell, 19, was working at the Peach Stand in Fort Mill when Mendez walked 
in and shot her several times, police and prosecutors say.

Mendez was arrested at the scene and has since been jailed without bond, 
awaiting trial.

His lawyer has filed court documents claiming Mendez may have been mentally 
incompetent at the time of the January shooting, but no court ruling has been 
made on Mendez' mental state. Mendez was tested by doctors this summer, court 
documents show.

In Tuesday's incident, the officer was handing a tray with food and milk to 
Mendez through a slot in his cell, reports state.

Mendez dropped the tray, grabbed the officer and pulled her arm through the 
slot, the incident report states. The officer "struggled" to get her arm out of 
the slot covered by a flap, then freed her arm before Mendez grabbed both of 
her arms through the slot, the report states.

The officer was able to free herself from Mendez's grip with the help of a male 
officer, police said.

The killing of Karson Whitesell, a missionary and church activist, shocked the 
people of York County. Police said there was no connection between Mendez, of 
Lancaster, and Whitesell.

(source: heraldonline.com)








GEORGIA:

Man faces murder charge in wife's stabbing death in Clayton County



The husband of a woman found "brutally stabbed multiple times" Wednesday night 
in Clayton County was arrested in connection with her death, the sheriff's 
office said.

Jermaine Jones, 30, called 911 and "allegedly said something to the effect that 
he had just committed a heinous crime," according to the agency.

Sheriff's deputies and police officers found Jones' wife, who has not been 
identified, at a Springview Drive home in Forest Park with "her neck cut so 
severely that her head was nearly severed," the sheriff's office said Thursday 
in a statement.

A witness identified Jones as the suspect, officials said. He tried to stop 
Jones but ended up "fleeing for his life," according to the statement.

Jones had allegedly fled as well to a location on Holiday Boulevard, where he 
made the 911 call. Authorities took him into custody at that location without 
incident. The sheriff';s office said his clothes were bloody.

According to Clayton County court records, Jones was booked on a charge of 
malice murder. He is expected to go before a judge on Friday for his 1st 
appearance.

(source: Atlanta Journal Constitution)








FLORIDA:

'The Perfect Murder' Finale Details His Brutal Crimes



The Season 5 finale of The Perfect Murder arrives Sept. 27 with one last brutal 
case, examining the 1996 killings of University of Miami football player Marlin 
Barnes and his friend Timwanika Lumpkins. According to CBS Miami, a suspect was 
eventually convicted for the crimes. But is Labrant Dennis still in prison in 
2018?

Per CBS, Dennis, who pleaded innocent, has tried multiple times to appeal his 
sentence but has been continuously denied. According to Florida's Commission on 
Capital Cases, the South Florida resident was convicted on two counts of first 
degree murder and one count of armed burglary with assault or battery. He was 
sentenced to death in 1999. As of 2018, he remains on Florida's death row list, 
indicating that he's still awaiting his death penalty sentence.

However, his Florida Department of Corrections inmate records list him as "out 
of [department] custody by court order," which, according to the Florida 
Times-Union, is a term used when an inmate has been transferred to a county 
jail for a court hearing. It's possible that Dennis is trying for yet another 
appeal, but has not been released.

His attempts to get out of prison will likely be brought up during The Perfect 
Murder episode, but the TV Guide synopsis suggests there will be an emphasis on 
the victims. It reads:

"University of Miami linebacker Marlin Barnes and his friend Timwanika Lumpkins 
are beaten to death in Marlin's apartment. As detectives search for the vicious 
killer, the crime sends shockwaves through the campus and community."

According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Barnes' teammate Earl Little found 
Barnes alive but badly beaten and barely breathing in their shared apartment on 
April 13, 1996. Fearing that the perpetrator was still nearby, he ran to a 
nearby friend's house and called the police. Authorities subsequently arrived 
at the scene and found a 2nd victim, Timwanika Lumpkins, who had also been 
beaten nearly to death. Eventually, both Barnes and Lumpkins succumbed to their 
injuries and died.

Dennis was arrested 17 days later and charged with the murders, the Orlando 
Sentinel reported. According to Florida's Commission on Capital Cases, it was 
revealed during the investigation that Dennis was Lumpkins' ex-boyfriend and 
the 2 shared a child. He also admitted to having an argument with Lumpkins the 
week before her death, after she had spent time out with Barnes and come home 
late at night.

(source: bustle.com)

*****************

May trial date set for man accused in Jupiter triple homicide



The jury trial of a man who faces the death penalty in the fatal shootings of 3 
people in Jupiter last year will begin May 3, a judge ordered Wednesday.

Christopher Vasata, 26, is charged with 3 counts of 1st-degree murder as well 
as other felony charges in the Feb. 5, 2017, shooting deaths of Brandi 
El-Salhy, 24, of Gainesville, Kelli J. Doherty, 20, of Tequesta, and Sean P. 
Henry, 26, of Jupiter.

Vasata, who has been in custody since March 2017, appeared in Circuit Judge 
Joseph Marx’s courtroom Wednesday but did not speak.

Marx said 200 potential jurors will be set aside for Vasata's case.

Marcus Jamal Steward, 25, of Riviera Beach also is facing 3 counts of 
1st-degree murder in addition to 1 count of attempted murder. Steward is 
expected back in court Dec. 18 for a status check, but no trial date has been 
set in his case. Steward has remained in the Palm Beach County Jail without 
bond since he was arrested Nov. 28.

Vasata was shot twice in the lower back and buttocks on the night of the 
murders at 1105 Mohawk St. in the Jupiter River Estates neighborhood north of 
Toney Penna Drive and east of Maplewood Drive.

A Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy said he found the injured Vasata after he 
stumbled out of the back seat of a car in the 100 block of Paseos Way and 
collapsed on the street, about 1.5 miles from the Mohawk Street house.

While recovering, Jupiter police say Vasata confessed to the murders, telling 
an officer, "Here I am, looking at heaven. I just killed 3 people and I'm 
looking at heaven."

He later denied making the statement.

(source: Palm Beach Post)








KENTUCKY:

Kentucky Supreme Court throws out Louisville double murder conviction----The 
high court unanimously ruled that Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Judith 
McDonald-Burkman erred when not allowing defendant William Truss to be present 
when jurors were chosen for his death penalty trial.



The Kentucky Supreme Court has thrown out the murder convictions and life 
sentence against a man found guilty in 2016 of killing 2 people in Shively.

The high court unanimously ruled that Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Judith 
McDonald-Burkman erred when she didn't allow defendant William Truss to be 
present on the 1st day jurors were chosen in his death penalty trial.

Truss was found guilty of shooting cousins Derek Slade and Latoy Bray in 2012. 
He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 25 years.

Police say they found Truss inside a car with the bodies, near the Shively exit 
on the Watterson Expressway.

On the 1st day of his trial, Truss' attorneys told Judge McDonald-Burkman that 
Truss was too ill to come to court for jury selection and asked for a delay, 
which the judge denied.

The state Supreme Court ruled Truss had a constitutional right to be present 
and participate in his defense.

"To say that the court's error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt would be 
an injustice to Truss and deprive him of his constitutional rights," according 
to the ruling.

The court sent the case back to McDonald-Burkman for a new trial.

(source: WDRB news)








ARKANSAS:

Hill wants death penalty in near-beheading



Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill is calling for the death penalty for a 
Forest Park man following a gruesome stabbing death Wedneday night.

According to Hill's Nixle feed, Clayton County deputies and Clayton County 
Police officers responded to a domestic incident on Springview Drive in 
unincorporated Forest Park. There they found a woman who had been stabbed 
multiple times and whose head was almost severed from her body.

A witness told police the he had tried to stop Jermaine Jones from stabbing 
Jones' wife, but that he was forced to run for his life.

According to Hill, "Jones later called 911 from Holiday Blvd. and allegedly 
said something to the effect that he had just committed a heinous crime."

CCSO and CCPD responded, taking Jones, whose clothes allegedly were bloody, 
into custody.

Jones is being held without bond at the Clayton County Jail on one charge of 
malice murder.

(source: news-daily.com)