Execution Report: James Richardson

James Davis Richardson, 32, was executed by lethal injection on 23 May 2000 in Huntsville, Texas, for the murder of a clerk during a liquor store robbery.

In December 1986, Richardson, then 25, Michael Ellison, 23, and James McHenry drove to Gusher Liquor Store in Angus. Ellison and McHenry entered the store while Richardson waited outside. As Ellison was paying for some beer, Richardson entered the store. As McHenry was walking out, Richardson drew a .25 caliber pistol and shot Gerald Abay, 35, in the throat and chest. Abay returned fire with a .38 caliber pistol, hitting Richardson in the left hand. Ellsion took about $1,000 from the cash register, along with a .25 caliber pistol that was behind the counter, and the three men fled. Abay died about an hour after the shooting.

An abandoned car, matching the description of the getaway car, was found. Blood was on the steering wheel, front door handle, and driver's compartment. Richardson's fingerprints were found on the door handle. A .25 caliber pistol was found in the glove compartment, and McHenry's thumbprint was found on it. That pistol was confirmed by ballistics testing to be the murder weapon. The three robbers were arrested the next day. Richardson's left hand was wounded and wrapped in a bloody towel. The blood on the towel was matched to the blood on the getaway car. McHenry and Ellsion gave information leading to the recovery of Abay's .25 caliber pistol and some of the stolen money.

At Richardson's trial, Michael Ellison testified that Richardson shot Gerald Abay. Ellison also testified that Richardson drove the getaway car and handed his pistol to McHenry to put in the glove compartment. A jury convicted Richardson of capital murder in April 1987 and sentenced him to death.

Richardson had previously been convicted of burglary and aggravated robbery and received a 5-year sentence. He entered prison in May 1986 and was paroled in September 1986. (At the time, early release was common in Texas because of strict prison population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.) As a juvenile, he also had ten arrests for theft, truancy, and fighting.

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