Harold Lane was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Tammy Davis
According to court documents Harold Lane would rob a grocery store. On his way out when he was unable to get the door open he would turn around and fatally shoot Tammy Davis
Harold Lane would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Harold Lane would be executed by lethal injection on October 4 1995
Harold Lane Photos
Harold Lane Case
Texas today put to death a man who killed a 17-year-old girl in the robbery of a Dallas supermarket in 1982.
Earlier in the day, the United States Supreme Court refused to block the execution of the inmate, Harold Joe Lane, by injection.
Mr. Lane, 50, was pronounced dead at 6:28 P.M., nine minutes after the lethal drugs began flowing into his arm.
He was the first Texas convict put to death under new execution procedures. Previously, the punishment was carried out after midnight
Lawmakers made the change after agreeing that lawyers and judges are more accessible during the day.
Mr. Lane’s lawyer, Michael Schulman, argued in a last-minute appeal that the jurors in his client’s trial should have been told that an accomplice had received only a five-year prison term.
The appeal was rejected on Tuesday by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, and early today by the Supreme Court on a 7-to-2 vote.
Mr. Lane had said he was high on drugs and alcohol when he robbed the Winn-Dixie store. He shot the girl, Tammy Davis, a cashier, when he became frustrated by an automatic door that would not open as he tried to flee.
Miss Davis, apparently unaware that a robbery was taking place, told Mr. Lane he was trying to go out the “in” door and pointed out the button that would let him out. He raised his .357 magnum and shot her in the head, the authorities said. He was captured after firing at police during a chase.
Miss Davis’s mother, Brenda Ruiz, said the execution “finally closes the book on the trauma that has taken place.”
“I have come here to see justice finally is served in this case,” she said. The new law would have allowed her to view the execution, but the renovations to make room in the death chamber had not been completed.
Mr. Lane had a long criminal history, including imprisonment in Colorado for robbery and assault and in Louisiana for manslaughter. In a recent interview, he was sarcastic about the milestone that would be set by his execution, his becoming the 100th inmate to be executed in Texas since the state resumed executions in 1982.
“Great honor, huh?” he said. “It’s something to tell my kids. Something for them to look back on. My dad is 100.
