Execution Report: Denard Manns

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A jury convicted Manns of capital murder in February 2002 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in December 2003. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

"I'm not no angel, far from an angel," Manns told a reporter in an interview from death row the week before his execution. He denied committing the murder, however, and said that his trial was unfair. "I know for a fact they weren't going to give me a fair break anyway," he said. He disputed the DNA evidence connecting him to the murder. "That's impossible. It can't be mine." When he was asked who he thought committed the murder, Manns said, "That's not for me to discuss. People get paid to ask those questions and find out. I would never tell them."

"From Allah he came and from Allah he shall return," Manns said in his last statement at his execution. Mann also criticized his trial attorneys by name for what he said was an unfair trial. He criticized one of his appeals lawyers and thanked another one. He also expressed love to his friends and said, "I'm ready for the transition." He repeated a brief prayer as the lethal drugs entered his body. He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 17 November 2008.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's Office, Associated Press, public records.