Carlton Turner

Carlton Akee Turner Jr., 29, was executed by lethal injection on 10 July 2008 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder and robbery of his parents.

On 8 August 1998, Turner, then 19, shot his adoptive parents, Carlton and Tonya Turner, in their home in Irving. After shooting both of them in the head, he moved their bodies into the garage. After the killings, he threw a party at the house for his friends, and he bought clothing and jewelry with the couple's cash and credit cards. He also forged a check from his parents' checkbook and stole some of their jewelry.

Neighbors called police after seeing Turner drive his parents' cars - something they knew he was not allowed to do - and noticing they hadn't seen the couple in several days. Police went to the house and arrested Turner on outstanding traffic warrants. They were led to the bodies by the odor coming from the garage.

At his trial, Turner testified that he shot his father in self-defense, but this position was contradicted by his pre-trial statements in newspaper and television interviews that he had nothing to do with the murders. He offered no explanation at his trial for his mother's murder. He told the jury that it made no difference to him whether he was given a life sentence in prison or sentenced to death.

Turner had previous convictions for automobile theft and aggravated robbery. He also had a juvenile record for sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy when he was 14.

A jury convicted Turner of capital murder in June 1999 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in September 2002. His subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied, and in June 2007, a judge signed his death warrant, ordering him to be executed on 27 September. On 26 September, however, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a Kentucky case challenging the constitutionality of lethal injection. Turner was granted a stay on the evening of his scheduled execution. Seven months later, on 16 April 2008, the Supreme Court upheld lethal injection. In the following weeks, Turner's appeal was denied, and the stay of execution was lifted, and a new death warrant was signed.

"I was immature and arrogant," Turner told a reporter in an interview from death row. He said that he was sorry for the killings, which he blamed on anger and hatred. He said that he shot his 43-year-old father in self-defense after repeated instances of abuse. As for why he killed his mother, "I felt my mother couldn't live without my father."

Turner's mother's brother, Kyle Johnson, attended the execution. "First of all, I'd like to tell my uncle Kyle that I'm sorry, and I've been sorry for the last ten years. I wish you could accept my apology, but I know I can't even ask for your forgiveness," Turner said to him in his last statement. " I was wrong, but I am still your nephew, no matter what you believe, and I love you" he said. The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m.

Johnson spoke to reporters afterward. He said that Turner showed signs as a pre-teen that he would have problems. "We thought he was just going through the average growing pains, and nobody knew how serious it was going to become," he said. Johnson also said that Turner's apology was meaningful to him. "I do accept his apology. It took a long time coming, and this is the first time he's ever apologized. I didn't think he was ever going to. I mean, he could have chosen not to say anything, so it makes it easier. It does."