Stacey Lawton

Stacey Lamont Lawton, 31, was executed by lethal injection on 14 November in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a homeowner during a burglary.

On Christmas Eve 1992, Lawton, then 23, and two accomplices were burglarizing cars and trucks in the neighborhood of Dennis Price, 44. Price's 18-year-old daughter, Jennifer, heard noises outside their home and alerted her father. While Jennifer called 911, Dennis Price went outside and found the trio trying to break into his truck. The burglars greeted Price with a shotgun blast to the chest. The 911 tapes recorded Jennifer crying, "Oh my God! They shot my dad!" Dennis Price died on the way to the hospital. Lawton and the two accomplices -- Karlos Ranard Fields, 21, and a 14-year-old -- fled in two stolen pickups, then abandoned them and stole a third pickup. A witness saw the truck speed away and called police. Lawton and his two accomplices were caught after a high-speed chase.

Court records show that the murder weapon was stolen in an earlier burglary. Lawton's 14-year-old accomplice testified that Lawton was the gunman who killed Price.

Lawton had a prior conviction for delivery of cocaine. He served less than eight months of a 10-year prison sentence in 1990-91 before being paroled. (At this time, early release was common in Texas because of strict prison population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.)

Lawton said that the other accomplice, Karlos Fields, was the gunman. "We were looking for a truck to steal and couldn't find one," he said in a death row interview. "As far as shooting the man, I didn't do it. ... I got no business being here." Prosecutors said they are positive that Lawton was the one who killed Price. Fields was convicted of capital murder and is serving a life sentence in prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Lawton's appeal in late September. With his execution set for 3 October, the state district judge presiding over the case postponed it on that day because his attorneys had missed filing an appeal deadline by one day.

To the end, Lawton denied that he was the gunman who killed Dennis Price. At his execution, strapped to the guerney and with the saline solution already coursing through his body, Lawton addressed Jennifer Price, "I didn't kill your father. I mean, I know how it look [sic], but I didn't do it." (Jennifer was present for the execution but did not actually witness it.) Lawton repeated his claim of innocence several more times, while also encouraging his family and friends. As the drugs began taking effect, he faintly gasped twice. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m.