Kenneth Morris was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of James Adams
According to court documents Kenneth Morris and two accomplices would break into the home of James Adams who would be fatally shot. Morris would later admit they broke into the wrong house
Kenneth Morris would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Kenneth Morris would be executed by lethal injection on March 4 2009
Kenneth Morris Photos
Kenneth Morris FAQ
When Was Kenneth Morris Executed
Kenneth Morris was executed on March 4 2009
Kenneth Morris Case
It wasn’t much of a 38th birthday celebration, but Houston murderer Kenneth Wayne Morris ordered white cake with lemon icing for his last meal Wednesday. Then he was escorted to the death chamber.
Convicted of the 1991 robbery-murder of retired Houston paint company owner James Moody Adams, Morris was the second killer executed this week, the 10th this year. Former state District Judge Caprice Cosper said the setting of Morris’ execution on his birthday was a coincidence. As two of Morris’ female friends, one of whom recently married him by proxy, and four members of his victim’s family filed into witness rooms, the killer lay on the gurney with eyes closed. “Can they hear me?” he asked, turning his head toward the room occupied by his friends. “I love you.” Then, turning his eyes to Adams’ relatives, he said, “I want to say that I’m sorry for the pain I might have caused you and your family. I carry nothing but love in my heart. I pray that one day you can forgive me.” Stifling tears, he addressed Warden Charles O’Reilly, “I’m ready to go home.” Turning again to his friends, he said, “Bye, Baby. I’ll always be with you.” The lethal drugs were administered at 6:08 p.m. Morris was declared dead eight minutes later. “I’ll cry when he’s in my arms, not now,” Donna Lounton, Morris’ wife, said as the drugs were administered. “I’ve never been a widow so quick in my life.” ‘It was just’ In a post-execution news conference, Jimmy Adams, the victim’s son, described Wednesday as “a sad day.” “We lost a wonderful man. James Moody Adams was our dad. He was a good, humble, giving, kind man,” he said. “… It was sad to see the loss of that other family’s experiencing today. I think we forgave him a long time ago. But the consequences still had to be carried out. It was just.” Another son, Kent Adams, said his family witnessed the execution out of a sense of duty. “We all wanted to be here to honor our parents,” he said.
Court records indicated the 63-year-old victim and his wife, Marcene, were awakened early on the morning of May 1, 1991, by a loud noise. As James Adams left his bedroom to investigate, he was accosted by Morris and two accomplices, Orlena Ayers and Christopher Montez, who demanded guns. Adams told the robbers he owned no firearms and offered them $1,800 in cash. Morris took the money and shot him four times. Morris contended the gun accidentally discharged when one of his accomplices bumped him.
Ayers and Montez were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Jimmy Adams on Wednesday said he believes both should have been sentenced to death.
In an eleventh-hour effort to save their client’s life, Morris’ Texas Defender Service attorneys filed appeals claiming the Harris County District Attorney’s Office unconstitutionally prosecuted Morris because he was black. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the appeals.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6294165.html
