Execution Report: Tyrone Fuller

Continued from Page 1

Fuller was the first defendant in Texas who was convicted and sent to death row in a trial where DNA evidence was used.

In an interview prior to Fuller's execution, the Lamar County prosecutor, Tom Wells, said that the week before Duke was murdered, her car was broken into and her purse was stolen. Wells theorized that the attackers found her address and stalked her, waiting until she was home alone to victimize her again.

Fuller had two previous convictions for burglary. He served 12 months of a 7-year sentence in 1981 and 1982. While he was on parole, he committed the second offense and was sentenced to 12 years. He was paroled in November 1985 after serving a little more than 2 years of that sentence. (At the time, early release was common in Texas due to strict prison population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.) He was on parole at the time of Duke's murder.

John Earl McGrew received a life sentence for murder. According to public records, he remains in custody as of this writing.

Kenneth Wayne Harmon was not charged in the murder, for lack of evidence. He had a prior felony conviction for burglary of a building and has since been convicted of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon - a felony in itself - in addition to numerous misdemeanor convictions for theft and drug possession.

At the time of the killing, Duke lived in her apartment with her sister. The sister and four other family members attended Fuller's execution and watched from a viewing room. He did not make eye contact with them.

In his last statement, Fuller told his family members he loved them and said, "Please do not mourn my death or my life. Continue to live as I want you to live. I hold no bitterness toward no one. Just remember the light. I'm gonna let this light shine. Let it shine. Let the light shine." The lethal injection was then started. His mother cried, "Oh, my God. Oh, my baby." He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 29 February 2016.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Huntsville Item.