Kevin Zimmerman

Kevin Lee Zimmerman, 42, was executed by lethal injection on 21 January 2004 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder and robbery of a 33-year-old man.

On 23 October 1987, Zimmerman, then 26, arrived at a Beaumont motel with George Weber, 22, and Kaye Gonzales, 28. At the motel, they met Leslie Gilbert Hooks. Hooks had some drinks with the group, then they went together to the fair. After the fair, they returned to the motel. There, in Hooks' room, Zimmerman and Weber began stabbing Hooks. Zimmerman took Hooks' wallet and gave it to Weber. Next, Zimmerman, Weber, and Gonzales went to a hospital, where Zimmerman received treatment for a knife wound.

Hooks died from 31 stab wounds.

Zimmerman was subsequently arrested and jailed. While in jail, he wrote numerous letters to Weber and to the district attorney. In these letters, Zimmerman admitted to killing and robbing Hooks and mentioned being stabbed in the arm while killing him.

Kaye Gonzales testified that after the group returned from the fair, Zimmerman and Hooks began arguing about something that had happened at the fair. Suddenly, she testified, Zimmerman "picked up a knife and stabbed him in his shoulder." Gonzales testified that she then went into the bathroom, and when she came back out, both Zimmerman and Weber were stabbing Hooks, who was yelling, "Don't kill me."

Zimmerman had arrests in Louisiana for reckless driving, theft, forgery, possession of marijuana, battery, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal trespassing, carrying a concealed weapon, disturbing the peace, threatening bodily injury, resisting arrest, fleeing from officers, auto theft, and possession of cocaine. He had at least one three-year prison sentence, but information on dates of incarceration and release were not available for this report.

A jury convicted Zimmerman of capital murder in June 1990 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in April 1993. Zimmerman was originally scheduled to be executed in October 1993, but the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay, vacated the guilty verdict, and remanded the case to the TCCA for further consideration. In June 1994, the TCCA affirmed the conviction and sentence again.

George Andre Weber was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to 85 years in prison. In 1995, he received an additional 6-year sentence for possession of a deadly weapon in prison. He remains in state custody as of this writing. Kaye Ellen Gonzales pleaded guilty to robbery in exchange for her testimony and was sentenced to 10 years' probation. She has had no other offenses.

In 1992, Zimmerman and two other death row prisoners were caught trying to saw their way through a recreation yard fence.

Zimmerman's second scheduled execution date came in December 2003. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, issued a stay again, in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of Zimmerman and two other death row inmates. The lawsuit alleged that execution by lethal injection as practiced by the state of Texas constituted cruel and unusual punishment because one of the chemicals, pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the prisoner, preventing him from expressing pain.

When a prison official informed Zimmerman of the stay, he replied, I'm disappointed. I was ready to go. The stay only means 18 more months of this crap." Five days after issuing the stay, however, the Supreme Court decided not take Zimmerman's case, and his execution was rescheduled for January.

In the days leading up to his execution, Zimmerman complained about the final appeals process and the uncertainty of execution dates. His December stay, he wrote in a prepared statement, "was a spiritual and emotional drain." Nevertheless, Zimmerman allowed his lawyers to file appeals to attempt to halt his January execution.

"In the name of Jesus, I am so sorry for the pain I caused y'all," Zimmerman told his victim's family as he choked back tears, lying on the execution table. "I am sorry. Gilbert didn't deserve to die, and I want y'all to know I am sorry." Zimmerman prayed as the lethal injection was administered, stopping in mid-sentence as the drugs began to take effect. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.