Darrell Grayson and Victor Kennedy were executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of Annie Orr
According to court documents Darrell Grayson and Victor Kennedy would break into the home of eighty six year old Annie Orr. The woman would be sexually assaulted and murdered
Darrell Grayson and Victor Kennedy were arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Victor Kenney was executed August 6 1999 by way of the electric chair
Darrell Grayson was executed July 26 2007 by lethal injection
Darrell Grayson Photos
Darrell Grayson FAQ
When Was Darrell Grayson Executed
Darrell Grayson was executed on July 26 2007
When Was Victor Kenney Executed
Victor Kennedy was executed on August 6 1999
Darrell Grayson Case
Darrell Grayson was executed Thursday by lethal injection at Holman Correctional Facility for the Christmas Eve 1980 murder of Montevallo widow Annie Laura Orr, 86.
The 46-year-old Grayson, pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m., had been adopted by activists as an example of the need for a state law mandating DNA testing for Death Row inmates. The Innocence Project, a New York-based nonprofit that represents the condemned, had argued that DNA tests not available at the time of Grayson’s trial might have proved him innocent.
The U.S. Supreme Court in a two-sentence order Thursday afternoon denied a request for a stay of execution. The Alabama Supreme Court on Wednesday denied a request to postpone the execution.
Gov. Bob Riley, who chose not to commute Grayson’s sentence or issue a reprieve, said attention had been focused on Grayson, and “seemingly ignored has been consideration of his victim.” Riley cited Grayson’s repeated confessions and his failed appeals as influencing his decision to not stop the execution. “No new evidence has come to light that would warrant a reprieve or a commutation,” he said in a prepared statement.
Witnessing the execution on his behalf were anti-death penalty activist Esther Brown and one of Grayson’s attorneys, Charlotte Norby. Witnessing on behalf of his victim was Lee Rawlings Binion, her granddaughter. As the execution began, Grayson raised his head to look at Brown, who had become his friend, and smiled. “I love you,” she mouthed, and he answered in kind. Asked by the warden if he had a statement, he answered, “Peace” and smiled again. Watching from a separate room, Orr’s granddaughter wiped away tears.
After several minutes, Grayson turned his head to the right, closed his eyes and took his last breath. As witnesses were escorted out of the witness rooms, Brown stood and said, under her breath, “Bloody murderers.”
In a prepared statement, Binion said she was glad to have the ordeal over. “The family of Annie Laurie Orr has seen the final chapter of this lengthy 27-year struggle come to an end. We are grateful that justice has finally been served.” Prison authorities said that in his final hours Grayson met with friends and family, read and had his last meal, an egg and cheese omelet with fresh sliced tomatoes. He had been in a good mood, laughing and joking, they said. Grayson left most of his belongings, including a TV, radio, headphones and a pair of Nike shoes, to other inmates. He left a ring to Brown.
Grayson and Victor Kennedy were convicted in 1981 of the Dec. 24, 1980, murder of Orr, who was the widow of a Montevallo University dean and the mother of a former Montevallo mayor. According to court documents, the men played cards and drank wine with friends on the evening of Dec. 23, then, to get money for Christmas, went to burglarize Orr’s home in the early morning hours on Christmas Eve. Orr was awakened by the men, who had entered her home through a basement door. After finding little money, they restrained, beat and raped her. She died of her injuries.
Later that morning Orr’s son found her body and police found Grayson in the bushes with her wedding rings in his wallet and his bloody shirt nearby. A trail of playing cards led from the scene of the crime to Kennedy’s home. In multiple confessions to police both men provided details of the robbery and rape, and on the witness stand at his trial Grayson again confessed, though he said he remembered few details because he had been drunk. Kennedy was executed in 1999.
Memory lapse:
In recent years Grayson claimed he had no memory of the crime, and unsuccessfully appealed to the court to order DNA testing that wasn’t available in 1981. The Innocence Project and other activists said a DNA test could prove conclusively whether Grayson raped Orr. If a test found DNA belonging to a third party, but not to Grayson or Kennedy, the case against Grayson would be undermined, they said.
In the days before the execution the Innocence Project, the NAACP, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other groups called on Riley to issue a stay so the tests could be conducted. Riley’s office refused, saying the governor has the authority to commute sentences, but not to issue stays or order DNA tests. Innocence Project lawyers disagreed, saying the Alabama Constitution specifically grants the governor the authority to grant reprieves.
Eric Ferrero, Innocence Project spokesman, said the state of Alabama said in its own filings in the case that Riley has the authority to issue reprieves and to order DNA tests.
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/11855265906460.xml&coll=2
