Jay Pinkerton was executed by the State of Texas for two murders
According to court documents Jay Pinkerton would sexually assault and murder two women in separate attacks
Jay Pinkerton would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Jay Pinkerton would be executed by lethal injection on May 15 1986
Jay Pinkerton Photos
Jay Pinkerton FAQ
When was Jay Pinkerton executed
Jay Pinkerton was executed on May 15 1986
How was Jay Pinkerton executed
Jay Pinkerton would be executed by lethal injection
Jay Pinkerton Case
Jay Kelly Pinkerton, convicted of the mutilation-slaying of one woman and the murder of another, said goodbye to his father and was executed today by injection, nine months after escaping the same fate by just 26 minutes.
Pinkerton, 24, was pronounced dead at 12:25 a.m., said Assistant Attorney General Monroe Clayton, just hours after federal judges rejected an appeal hand-delivered by Pinkerton’s mother.
His father, Gene, the only relative to witness the execution, gripped an aluminum rail in the death chamber a few feet from his son
″Be strong for me,″ Pinkerton told his father. ″I want you to know that I’m at peace with myself and with my God. I talked to everybody on the phone. I got to talk to Mom. Say goodbye to Mom. Keep your spirits up for me.″
Then he chanted: ″I bear witness to Allah. I ask for your forgiveness.″
″Bye, Jay,″ his father said.
″I love you, Dad,″ replied Pinkerton, who then said, ″I feel dizziness. I feel dizziness.″ He yawned, his eyes closed, and he died.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday twice refused to block the execution.
After the first rejection, Pinkerton’s mother, Margie, carried a personal appeal from her son to U.S. District Judge Hayden Head of Corpus Christi. Head, who was in Houston for a meeting, denied the appeal about 25 minutes later. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans and the Supreme Court then also refused to stop the execution.
Pinkerton, an apprentice meat cutter, was executed for raping and mutilating Sarah Donn Lawrence in 1979 during a burglary of her Amarillo home when he was 17 years old. Mrs. Lawrence, 30, was stabbed more than 50 times and her throat was slashed.
Pinkerton also was convicted of the 1980 murder of Sherry Welch, 25, of Amarillo, who was stabbed while working in an furniture store.
Even before the final appeals were rejected Gov. Mark White announced he would not halt the execution, calling the slayings ″two of the most brutal and heinous crimes imaginable.″
″After years of litigation, Mr. Pinkerton’s case has been scrutinized in detail and no errors have been found,″ White said. ″It is time that the state be allowed to carry out its lawful punishment.″
Pinkerton averted death in August just 26 minutes before he was to be taken into the death chamber. Another stay was granted in November just 10 hours before his scheduled execution.
Pinkerton’s attorney, Dean Roper, said the appeal delivered by Pinkerton’s mother was unusual but legitimate. It contended that the jury was not asked the proper questions during the sentencing phase of the trial, particularly whether Pinkerton was provoked by Mrs. Lawrence into killing her.
Randy Sherrod, the Randall County district attorney who prosecuted Pinkerton, said the appeals were merely attempts to gain time for the condemned man, and that there was no question of provocation.
The execution was the seventh in the nation this year and the third in Texas. Pinkerton was among the youngest people executed since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted its ban on the death penalty in 1976. The youngest was Jesse de la Rosa, executed in Texas in 1985 for murdering a convenience store clerk in 1979. His age initially was reported as 24, but state prison officials said today he had been 23.
The slayings terrorized the Amarillo area, prompting people to buy extra locks for doors and guns to protect themselves.
Fewer than a dozen spectators stood in a thunderstorm outside the prison while the execution was taking place. Among them was June Morgan, of New Waverly, an aunt of Mrs. Lawrence.
″I can’t believe I’m here hoping somebody dies,″ she said. ″But he’s not a people. He’s an animal.″
