Execution Report: Tommie Hughes

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A jury convicted Hughes in May 1998 of the capital murder of Foluke Erinkitola, and sentenced him to death. He was also charged, but not tried, for Roxanne Mendoza's murder. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in April 2000. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Derric Dewayne English was convicted of capital murder and given a life sentence. Alicia Lavone Henry pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in exchange for her testimony against both men. She was sentenced to eleven years in prison.

In an interview from death row, Hughes admitted being there when the women were killed, but denied that he killed them or planned the robbery. He said that he was talking to the women in the parking lot when Henry flew into a jealous rage and shot them. "The picture that they painted of me as being the mastermind, it's just totally off the rock," Hughes said. "There's no way I can understand the loss their families feel. But I'm not the one who did it."

Hughes expressed love to his family in this last statement at his execution. He looked at, but did not speak to, the relatives of his victims. The lethal injection was started, and he was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 16 February 2006.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, court documents.