Kevin Kincy

Kevin Christopher Kincy, 38, was executed by lethal injection on 29 March 2006 in Huntsville, Texas for the robbery and murder of man in his home.

On 26 March 1993, Kincy, then 25, and his cousin, Charlotte Kincy, 33, went to the Houston home of Jerome Harville, a former boyfriend of Charlotte's. Harville let the two inside his home. Kevin then drew a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol and shot Harville in the head. After stabbing the victim several times, he and Charlotte then loaded some of Harville's possessions - including stereo equipment, appliances, furniture, and a Ruger 9mm pistol - into Harville's car, and fled. Harville's body was discovered that day after concerned co-workers called the sheriff's department.

Homicide investigators found two .25-caliber shell casing near the body. On some furniture, they observed patterns of small dot marks, which appeared to have been made by someone wearing rubber gloves.

The stolen 9mm pistol was recovered at a pawn shop and traced to John Byrom. Byrom later testified that Kincy told Byrom that he had taken the gun from a house where he had killed a man. Byrom said that Kincy asked him to hold the gun for him, and he agreed, but then he decided to pawn it instead. Investigators also recovered the .25-caliber pistol used to shoot Harville.

When investigators searched Kincy's apartment, they found a .25-caliber magazine and three gloves with raised dots on the fingertips, which matched the dot pattern left on Harville's furniture.

Nine days after the murder, an FBI agent spotted Kincy driving the victim's Honda Accord on Interstate 10. After a high-speed chase, Kincy was apprehended in Louisiana.

At Kevin Kincy's trial, Terkisha Dawson testified that prior to the murder, Kevin and Charlotte spoke of their plan to rob a and kill a man in his home. She testified that their intended victim was a man who Charlotte had been romantically involved with. Their plan was for Charlotte to distract the victim, while Kevin would enter the home and kill him. Dawson further testified that Kevin phoned her after the murder, laughing as he described how he surprised Harville, shot him, and stabbed him several times.

Keenan Mosley, another cousin of Kevin Kincy's, testified that Kincy displayed the gun he had stolen from Harville and made a list of pros and cons concerning his chances of getting caught. Mosley also testified that Kincy mentioned having worn gloves during the crime. Mosley further testified that she observed Kincy in possession of a Honda Accord and a large amount of home appliances and equipment.

Kincy's co-worker, Byron Brown, testified that on the day of the murder, he accompanied Kevin and Charlotte Kincy to a house. He entered a bedroom and saw a man lying on the floor. Upon realizing that the man was dead, Brown testified, he became frightened and left the house.

Kincy was convicted of attempted murder in 1986 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He served 4 months of that sentence before being released on "shock probation." In less than four months, he was back on prison on 6-year conviction for burglary of a motor vehicle. He stayed behind bars for three months before being released again. In October 1989, he was convicted of delivery of cocaine and sentenced to another 15 years in prison. He was paroled in December 1991. (At the time, early release was common in Texas due to strict prison population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.)

Twelve days before the murder, Kincy was pulled over by Houston police officer Jeff Miller for speeding. Miller testified that when he walked up to the car, Kincy was reaching under the seats. Miller looked under the seat and found a .25-caliber pistol and several bags of marijuana. Kincy was charged with felony possession of a firearm.

At Kincy's punishment hearing, Terkisha Dawson testified that after the murder, Kincy took another woman and her to dinner. As they were leaving the restaurant, some men outside made flirtatious remarks toward the women. Dawson testified that Kincy turned around and lifted his shirt to show the 9mm Ruger to the men, and threatened to shoot them. Dawson also testified that on a different occasion, she saw Kincy shoot the gun into the air from his car while at a mall parking lot, then he drove away at high speed.

John Byrom testified that Kincy asked for his help in fitting the 9mm pistol with a silencer and to be his getaway driver in future home robberies.

A jury convicted Kincy of capital murder in October or November 1993 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in January 1998. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Kincy was also convicted on a federal charge of transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines.

Charlotte Marie Kincy was also charged with capital murder, but the charges were reduced to aggravated robbery in exchange for her guilty plea and promise to testify against her cousin. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison. She was not called to testify in the guilt/innocence phase of Kevin's trial. When she was called to testify in the punishment phase, she refused to testify, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Kincy had a reputation for being a difficult, violent prisoner. He was not available for media interviews prior to his execution. State officials said that Kincy had threatened to harm the prison staff. For his transport to from death row in Livingston to Huntsville, where all Texas executions are carried out, state troopers were added to the usual prison guard escort. Officials said that there were no incidents during the transport, and Kincy was quiet in his holding cell.

On the day of his execution, Kincy was visited by his mother. It was the first time he had seen her since last summer, when, on her way out of the prison, she was arrested for having a pound of marijuana in her van.

In his last statement at his execution, Kincy thanked his friends and supporters and expressed love to his family. He then glanced briefly at Harville's relatives. The lethal injection was then started. Kincy pursed his lips into a kiss for his wife, Barbara, a Swiss woman who married him by proxy after they became pen pals via an anti-death-penalty web site. Kincy was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m.