Texas Execution Information Center

Execution Report: Larry Hayes

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A jury convicted Hayes of capital murder in May 2000 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in September 2002. The CCA denied his habeas corpus appeal in October 2002. Hayes opted not to pursue any federal appeals.

"I never in my life dreamed I had it in me to pull the trigger on somebody -- especially my wife," Hayes said in a death-row interview. He said that his wife confessed to him the day before the murders that she had been having an affair. After a day of fighting, Hayes said, "She made the statement to me that I needed to get over it and live with it, or 'just go get your gun and kill me.'" Hayes said, "I snapped. I don't know any other word for it."

Hayes said that when he killed Robinson, "I really wasn't in my mind. She wouldn't get in the car. I figured, 'I can't leave her here with a pay phone inside the store, I wouldn't make it a mile down the road.'"

Hayes was diagnosed in 1998 as bipolar and manic depressive. He was being treated with Prozac at the time of the crimes. Hayes said that he believed the medication contributed to the crime, although he declined to blame it for his actions.

Hayes said that he dropped his appeals because he was willing to pay for his crime. He told a reporter that he was tormented every day by guilt. Hayes also cited the grim conditions on death row as a reason for waiving his appeals.

"I am genuinely sorry for what I did," Hayes said in his last statement. "I ask you to reach down in your heart and forgive me. There's no excuse for what I did." Hayes thanked his friends and family and expressed love to them. He also thanked Sargent Waller, who arrested him. "He gave me CPR, saved my life, and gave me a chance to get my life right." When Hayes finished speaking, the lethal injection was started. He was pronounced dead at 6:29 p.m.

Ruby Robinson, the mother of Hayes' second victim, witnessed the execution and heard Hayes' apology. Afterward, she told a reporter, "I cannot forgive this man."

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By David Carson. Posted on 11 September 2003.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Houston Chronicle, Huntsville Item.

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