Execution Report: Derrick Jackson

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On the morning of 13 September, Houston police spotted a car going more than 90 mph on the freeway following a burglary at a mall. The car crashed in a vacant lot. The driver fled on foot into an apartment complex and escaped. The car was identified as Henderson's. No other evidence was recovered from it.

In 1995, the Houston Police Department upgraded to a new fingerprint system with an expanded database. Using this new system, they obtained a match with Derrick Jackson, who was sent to prison in 1992 with a 12-year sentence for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Following this identification, police also matched the blood and DNA evidence from the crime scene to Jackson.

On the night of the murders, Henderson and Wrotenbery, who were both tenors in the Houston Grand Opera, attended a practice session downtown. Afterward, Wrotenbery returned to the apartment while Henderson visited some Montrose bars. Police claimed that Henderson picked up Jackson in a bar and brought him home. They characterized Jackson as a predator who targeted gay men.

A jury convicted Jackson of capital murder in March 1998 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in May 2000. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Jackson denied involvement in the murders in an interview from death row. "It's obvious I'm getting framed," he said. "I'm not your bad guy. People who know me know I'm a good guy ... I hate the fact that I'm being blamed and will be killed, but it's more sadness than hate."

At his execution, Jackson did not make eye contact either with his own family or the victim's relatives. He declined to make a last statement. The lethal injection was given, and he was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 21 July 2010.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, public records, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle.