Reginald Blanton

Reginald Winthrop Blanton, 28, was executed by lethal injection on 27 October 2009 in Huntsville, Texas for robbing and murdering a man in his apartment.

On 13 April 2000 in San Antonio, Blanton, then 18, his twin brother, Robert, and Robert's girlfriend, LaToya Mayberry, went to the apartment of Carlos Garza, 20, an acquaintance of theirs. While Mayberry waited in the car, the twins kicked in the door of Garza's apartment and went inside. Two shots were fired, one of them hitting Garza in the forehead. After taking some jewelry and cash, and looking for drugs to steal, the twins returned to the car, and the party drove away. Garza was unconscious when emergency workers arrived, but died on the way to the hospital.

Two days later, Mayberry was arrested following an altercation with Robert. She then told the police about the murder. She said when she was sitting in the car, she heard "two booms" from the door being kicked in, then "two more booms" from the gunshots. She said she saw Reginald return to the car with jewelry in his hand, including two necklaces. She said Robert told her Garza confronted them while they were inside the apartment, and Reginald shot him. According to Mayberry, Reginald also stole $100 in cash.

San Antonio police recovered Garza's jewelry from a local pawn shop. Reginald Blanton was recorded on videotape about 20 minutes after the shooting, selling two of Garza's gold necklaces and a religious medal for $79. At the time of arrest, he was wearing a ring and bracelet that had also belonged to Garza.

As a juvenile, Blanton had convictions for burglary, auto theft, and unlawfully carrying a weapon, as well as for lesser charges including shoplifting, possession of marijuana, and trespassing. In May 2001, while awaiting trial for capital murder, he assaulted an inmate for testifying in another inmate's capital murder trial.

A jury convicted Blanton of capital murder in August 2001 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in June 2004. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Robert Blanton was not charged in Garza's murder, but he has subsequently been convicted of possessing drugs, evading arrest, failing to report to his parole officer, and assaulting his wife, causing bodily injury. He is currently in prison, serving a 2-year sentence for possession of a controlled substance.

Reginald Blanton always maintained his innocence. In an interview with an anti-death-penalty activist, Blanton said that he, his brother, and Mayberry did visit Garza's apartment on the day of his death, but not finding him home, they left. "On the way to our respective homes," Blanton said, "I asked my brother to stop by the pawn shop so I could pawn some jewelry. It was a last minute decision on my part. What makes this difficult to talk about is the fact that the jewelry had previously belonged to Carlos ... While we were on the east side, the particular side of town we were leaving from before we stopped by the pawn shop, somebody was kicking in Carlos's door, killing him."

Blanton said that he and the victim both wore a lot of jewelry and frequently traded it to each other when rolling dice. He said some photographs taken 2½ months before the murder, showing him wearing the same jewelry he pawned, were admitted into evidence at his trial, but that evidence was overlooked. "And though I have done some stupid things in my ignorant years," he continued, "never would I pawn something I stole. That is beyond comprehension."

Blanton said that LaToya Mayberry was coerced by homicide detectives into signing a statement naming him as the murderer so that the assault charge against her would be dropped. Next, they used Mayberry, who was pregnant with Robert's child, as leverage against Robert to force him into also signing a statement.

"Carlos was my friend. I didn't murder him," Blanton said in his last statement at his execution. "What is happening right now is an injustice. This doesn't solve anything. This will not bring back Carlos ... I am not the man that did this." Blanton also complained about the drugs being used to execute him, pointing out that they were not permitted for use to put down dogs. Finally, he expressed love to his fiancee, Sandra Stafford, who watched from a viewing room, and to his friends who also attended. "Stay strong, continue to fight. I will see y'all again." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.