Execution Report: Lee Taylor

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A jury convicted Taylor of capital murder in February 2000 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in December 2002. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

At the time of the killing, Daniel Joseph Richbourg Jr. was serving a 12-year sentence for burglary of a building. He was convicted of murder in Greene's case and was given a 48-year sentence. If he serves his term to completion, he will be 80 when he is discharged.

On a web site operated by opponents of the death penalty, Taylor admitted killing Greene, but stated that the killing was done in self-defense. "... on April 1st 1999 I fought off 8 black men with a shank," he wrote. "Defending myself against 8 men older and stronger, fighting for my life against a premeditated attack, I defended myself ... the result - I killed one of them."

Taylor began his last statement at his execution by protesting the Texas death penalty. "There are 300 people on death row, and not every one of them is a monster," he said. "The state of Texas is carrying out a very inhuman and unjust situation. It's not right to kill anybody, not the way I did it, or the way it's being done to me. Everyone changes, right? Life is about experience, and people change."

The condemned man then looked to the victim's family. "For all you people," he said, "I defended myself when I killed your family member. Prison is a bad place. I didn't set out to kill him. But he would not have been in prison if he was a saint. I hope y'all understand that." While Taylor continued talking to the victim's family, the lethal injection was started. As the drug was taking effect, he said, "I'm ready to teleport". He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 17 June 2011.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Huntsville Item, Reuters, deathrow-usa.com.