DaRoyce Mosley

DaRoyce Lamont Mosley, 32, was executed by lethal injection on 28 August 2007 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of four people while robbing a bar.

Just before midnight on 21 July 1994, Sandra Cash, a waitress at Katie's Lounge in Kilgore, was closing up for the night, placing the evening's receipts in a fishing tackle box. The were four customers in the lounge: Patricia Colter, 53, her husband Duane Colter, 44, her ex-husband Alvin Waller, 54, and Luva Congleton, 68. Suddenly, Mosley, then 19, his uncle, Ray Don Mosley, 31, and Marcus Smith, 16, burst in wearing toboggan hats and brandishing handguns. Ray Don approached waitress Sandra Cash and said, "Give me the money, you white bitch." Cash slid the tackle box containing $308 toward Ray Don. He then fired a shot that struck her hand, which she was holding near her face, then he shot her in the stomach. DaRoyce then shot the four customers. The Colters and Congleton were each shot once in the back of the head. Waller was shot twice in the head and once in the thigh. All four customers died. Cash survived and called 911. She was permanently paralyzed from the chest down.

The next day, the police received several tips about the crime. Ricky Wheat, who lived across the street from Katie's Lounge, informed the police that Ray Don and DaRoyce Mosley and Marcus Smith were talking with him outside his residence on the night of the murder, and that Ray Don had a gun. He said Ray Don told him there was some money in the area and he had to have it. The Mosleys and Smith then left, and returned about thirty minutes later with a tackle box. They requested a ride to the home of Christopher "Kaboo" Smith, who was Marcus Smith's cousin and DaRoyce Mosley's best friend.

Christopher Smith told police that on the evening of the murders, DaRoyce Mosley was at his residence with a gun. He left, then later returned with Ray Don and Marcus. Kaboo said that Ray Don stated they had killed people in Katie's Lounge. Kaboo expressed disbelief, to which DaRoyce replied, "We did it." DaRoyce then divided the money evenly between the four of them, with each person receiving $77.

The next day, police pulled over DaRoyce, who was driving with his brother and the Smith cousins, and asked them to come to the police station to answer some questions. They agreed. Mosley was asked about the lounge murders and denied any involvement in the crime. Later that evening, however, the police arrested Mosley based on information they received from Marcus Smith. He then admitted to shooting two of the victims at Katie's Lounge. In a third statement, however, he admitted being present but denied shooting anyone. He also informed the police that he wore a toboggan hat during the crime, and had thrown it into the woods near Ricky Wheat's residence.

Mosley then accompanied police in searching for the hat. The hat was found, and a glove was found near it. Mosley then admitted to wearing a glove during the robbery. The police informed him that the glove could be examined for residue which would indicate whether the person wearing it had fired a gun, and asked Mosley if he would like to add anything to his statements. Mosley then gave his fourth and final statement. He said that Ray Don went in first and shot the waitress. The customers were all sitting at a table. After his uncle fired a shot, he then shot one of the female customers in the back of the head from about five feet away. The other woman got up and ran under a pool table. DaRoyce stated that Ray Don ordered him to shoot all of them or get shot, and that he was pointing a gun at him. DaRoyce then shot a male customer who was still sitting at the table, then he bent down next to the pool table and shot the other woman twice. He said that the second man was coming toward him with a pool cue, and he shot him three times. He stated that Marcus Smith left after the shooting started and met back up with them across the street after it was over. When Ray Don confronted Smith about leaving, he replied that he was trying to steal them a car.

At age 19, Mosley had no prior criminal record. In high school, he was on the student council, played sports, and made the honor roll. He then went on to attend Kilgore College. He said that peer pressure from others in his neighborhood prompted him to accompany his uncle on the robbery.

A jury convicted DaRoyce Mosley of the capital murder of Patricia Colter in October 1995 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and verdict in May 1998. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Ray Donald Mosley, who had a prior history of theft, trespassing, and interfering with police apprehension, and was on parole at the time of the murders, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Marcus Smith was given a two-year sentence.

In an interview from death row the week before his execution, Mosley claimed that he ran from the lounge when the shooting started. "I turned around and ran out, and here I am. It's a messed-up situation all around."

"It'd be easier if I did it," Mosley said, referring to his upcoming execution. "If I killed four people, I'd deserve it and I'd prepare for it. But that's not the case with me." He said that he turned down a plea deal for three life sentences. "I figured I'd be found not guilty. If anything, it'd be armed robbery. It didn't work out."

Mosley's execution was delayed for about five hours while the U.S. Supreme Court considered his final appeal. In his last statement, he expressed encouragement to his family and to his fellow death row inmates. The lethal injection was then started. Mosley remarked, "I can taste it." He was pronounced dead at 10:57 p.m.