Jessel Turner was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Charles Hunter
According to court documents Jessel Hunter would rob taxi driver Charles Hunter who would be fatally shot. Hunter was also charged in a number of other armed robberies
Jessel Turner would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Jessel Turner would be executed by lethal injection on September 22 1997
Jessel Turner Photos
Jessel Turner Case
Texas prison officials have carried out the state’s 27th execution of the year, putting Jessel Turner to death by injection for the 1986 robbery and slaying of a Houston cab driver. Texas has executed a record number of prisoners this year and two more executions are scheduled this month.
Turner was pronounced dead today at 6:18 p.m. The 37-year old thanked the family of his victim for contacting him on death row and forgiving him. He also expressed his faith in God and thanked his friends for their prayers. Turner was condemned for gunning down cabbie Charles Hunter in Houston’s Fifth Ward in February 1986.
Trial testimony showed Hunter’s body was dumped just a few hundred yards from the spot where he picked up Turner. Turner was arrested a short time later driving another car near the murder scene. The pistol used to kill Hunter was found beneath the driver’s seat after Turner’s arrest. Turner’s attorney, Mike Charlton, protested Turner’s execution with a small group outside the prison. Charlton says Turner was a ‘typical street punk’ when he met him. He says prison changed Turner, who became helpful and kind to his fellow inmates. Charlton says, ‘I only wish that could have been taken into account by the state.’
Texas surpassed a 1935 record of 20 executions earlier this year and at least eight more are scheduled this year. Texas has executed 134 prisoners since it resumed capital punishment in December 1982
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1997/09/22/UPI-Focus-Texas-executes-27th-inmate-of-year/5729874900800/
