Larry Davis

Larry Donnell Davis, 40, was executed by lethal injection on 31 July 2008 in Huntsville, Texas for the murder and robbery of a man in his home.

On 28 August 1995, Davis, then 27, and brothers Donald Drew Jr., 28, and Raydon "Ray-Ray" Drew, 20, went to the Amarillo home of Michael Barrow. Barrow, who was acquainted with the Drew brothers, allowed the group inside. While Barrow was sitting on a couch, Davis distracted him. Donald then hit Barrow in the back of the head with a dumbbell. Barrow fell to the floor. Davis placed him back on the couch, tied his hands behind his back with Donald's bandanna, and tied his feet. Ray-Ray stood over the victim while Davis searched Barrow's closet for items to steal. Davis then told Ray-Ray to "take care of his business," meaning he should kill him. Ray-Ray then stabbed and punched Barrow. When Ray-Ray's knife broke, Davis handed him an ice pick, and Ray-Ray continued stabbing him. The group then continued looking for more items to steal. They were gathering a TV and VCR when they heard Barrow cough. Davis and Ray-Ray discovered that he had untied his feet. Barrow tried to fight back as Davis and Ray-Ray hit him on the mouth and beat him with a pipe. Davis then took a butcher knife from a kitchen drawer and gave it to Ray-Ray, who began stabbing him with it. When it appeared that the victim might be dead, Ray-Ray kicked him in the ribs. Finally, Davis directed Ray-Ray to step on Barrow's throat so he would die of asphyxiation.

After Davis was arrested, he gave a fourteen-page confession describing the crime. He stated that the Drew brothers approached him with their plan to rob and kill Barrow so that Ray-Ray could get a teardrop tattoo, a gang symbol. In exchange for his help and for the use of his car, the Drews promised him the wheels from Barrow's car and a stereo system. Davis' confession also gave details about the days following Barrow's murder, including his attempts to pawn and hide the stolen property.

Raydon Drew also gave a statement confirming that he and Davis killed Barrow.

At Davis' trial, the state introduced evidence showing that shoes found in Davis' home had the victim's blood on them, and that prints from these shoes were found at the scene and on the victim's body.

Davis had prior convictions for theft and weapons possession. He was in an out of prison three times between 1992 and 1994, each time receiving parole and then being returned for violating it. He was on parole at the time of the murder. In addition, his ex-wife, Mary Cornelius, testified that he mentally and physically abused her during their marriage. She testified that he kicked and beat her in the stomach - including once when she was pregnant, which resulted in a miscarriage - and that he sometimes held her at knife point or forced her to stand still before him, naked. Sherry Morrison, an ex-girlfriend and mother of one of his children, also testified that he physically and mentally abused her, including an incident when he kicked her in the stomach while she was pregnant.

Prosecutors also presented evidence implicating Davis for a 1993 murder in Dallas where the victim was beaten with the top of a toilet tank.

While in jail awaiting trial, Davis had an altercation with members of the Potter County Sheriff's Department. When officers were attempting to move him, he resisted, striking at least two officers and attempting to stab them with a pen.

A jury convicted Davis of capital murder in March 1999 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in October 2002. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Raydon Doen Drew pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. He remains in prison as of this writing.

Donald Drew Jr. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and received a 5-year sentence. Since completing that sentence, he has received two convictions for assault causing bodily injury to a family member. For the first conviction in 2001, he was sentenced to 250 days in jail. For the second conviction in 2004, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. He also remains in prison as of this writing.

Two juveniles who served as lookouts were also charged and pleaded guilty.

"Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted," Davis said, quoting from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament book of Matthew. He did not acknowledge his victims' parents, who watched from an observation room. Davis concluded his last statement with another verse from the New Testament, "It is finished." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 pm.