Execution Report: Kenneth Morris

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A jury convicted Morris of capital murder in December 1993 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in September 1996. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied. Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that executing mentally retarded prisoners is unconstitutional, Morris's lawyers filed numerous appeals claiming that he was retarded and therefore ineligible for execution. While Morris won a stay from an April 2003 execution date, the courts decided that Morris was not retarded.

Orlena Ayers was convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to life in prison. He remains in custody as of this writing. Montez, who is Ayers' cousin, received an 85-year sentence.

Morris declined to be interviewed prior to his execution, but in an interview prior to his scheduled execution in 2003, he said that he and his friends believed Adams' house contained a collection of expensive weapons, but they got disoriented and entered the wrong house. "It was just supposed to be a burglary," he said. "Nobody was supposed to be there."

Morris also said that the shooting was an accident, caused by one of his accomplices bumping into him. "When he bumped me, the gun went off. As he fell, I turned to run and fired two more times in the closet. I didn't aim at him or anything. It all happened so quick. I had no intentions of killing nobody."

"I'm not a bad person," Morris continued. "I accept responsibility. But I was on drugs, suffering from depression. After a while, things came to a head. It's unfortunate it had to happen this way."

Marcena Adams died two years ago at age 80. Morris's execution was witnessed by three of Adams' sons and a grandson. "I'm sorry for all the pain I might have caused you and your family," Morris said to them in his last statement. "I pray one day y'all can one day forgive me." The execution was also attended by two women, one of whom is British and recently married Morris by proxy while he was on death row. Morris told the women he loved them. The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 5 March 2009. Minor edit made on 1 April 2009.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's Office, Associated Press, court documents.