Texas Execution Information Center

Execution Report: Demarco McCullum

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A jury convicted McCullum of capital murder in November 1995 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in March 1998. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Decedrick Ganius, 19, was convicted of capital murder and received a life sentence. Terrance Lavelle Perro, 19, was convicted of aggravated robbery and was also sentenced to life. Both of them remain in custody as of this writing. Christopher Lewis, 17, was convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He is now out on parole.

McCullum was the quarterback at Aldine High School. He received a football scholarship and was set to leave for college the day after he was arrested. Acquaintances of McCullum, who was voted "Mr. Aldine," had a hard time believing that he had become a violent criminal. Teachers and schoolmates described him as polite, well-dressed, ambitious, and energetic. "The Demarco that we coached was a vibrant kid. He was totally different than the Demarco that walked out of Aldine High School," said Richard Whitaker, his former football coach.

Similarly, McCullum's own statements in interviews on death row in interviews suggested that he had not come to terms with his own actions. "The real Demarco McCullum was not a criminal," he said. He also said that he shot blindly into the dark, not even knowing whether he hit Burzinski. "I didn't stand over somebody and execute somebody," he said. McCullum also said that he would not be executed, but that he would be spared by a "supernatural miracle."

In his last statement, McCullum expressed love to his friends and family. He was given the lethal injection, then was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.

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By David Carson. Posted on 12 November 2004.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Houston Chronicle.

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