Execution Report: Mauriceo Brown

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A jury convicted Brown and Foster of capital murder in May 1997 and sentenced them to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Brown's conviction and sentence in February 1999. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Foster's death sentence was overturned in March 2005 by a U.S. district judge. The state has appealed that decision, however, and Foster remains on death row at this writing. Julius Steen was given immunity from the death sentence in exchange for his testimony against Brown and Foster. He was convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to life in prison, where he remains at this writing. DeWayne Dillard was charged in the killing, but not tried. Instead, he was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life for a killing that occurred two weeks prior to the LaHood slaying. He is also in prison at this writing.

In an interview from death row prior to his execution, Brown retracted his confession. "I was in the car," he said. "When I looked up, everything happened so fast." In the interview, Brown said that Dillard shot LaHood, but that Dillard and the other two threatened him and his family if he did not take the fall for the LaHood murder. "I was naive, I didn't know any better," he said. He called his trial "a mockery based on a lie that I made a statement and everybody else made a statement that I was the shooter."

"That claim is preposterous," one prosecutor, Mike Ramos said. Jack McGinnis, another prosecutor, said, "Even if his new story is true, that doesn't say he's not guilty of capital murder and deserving of the death penalty. His new story doesn't get him out of the woods. It gets him to where Foster is right now." Under Texas law, a defendant can be found guilty of capital murder for participating in a killing, even if he or she doesn't personally perform the killing.

At his execution, Brown expressed sorrow to the victim's loved ones, and love to his family. He then apologized to the victim's loved ones one more time and said, "God bless you all." The lethal injection was then started. Brown's mother, Cynthia Luckey, fell to the floor sobbing as her son drew his final breath. "Why didn't they give him another chance," she wailed as two of her children comforted her. "He was not guilty." Brown was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 21 July 2006.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, Huntsville Item.