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| Cary Kerr |
Cary Kerr, 46, of Dallas was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. Tuesday in the death house at the Huntsville Unit, nine minutes after the administration of a lethal dose of drug that included for the first time pentobarbital in place of sodium thiopental, which is no longer available. The state has used sodium thiopental since 1982.
Just before the lethal dose of drugs began to flow, Kerr proclaimed his innocence in the 2001 rape and murder of 34-year-old Pamela Horton in Haltom City near Fort Worth.
“To the state of Texas: I'm an innocent man,” Kerr said in his last statement. “Never trust a court-appointed attorney.”
Kerr then asked his friends to search for the person he claimed committed the crime.
“Check that DNA,” he said. “Check Scott.”
As the sedation drugs began to take effect, Kerr sighed deeply and said, “Here we go.”
“Lord Jesus,” he said. “Jesus.”
Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block Kerr’s execution. Kerr's appeal didn't challenge the drug switch. Rather, he argued that a lawyer didn't properly represent him in earlier appeals, according to the Associated Press.
Kerr told the AP he first met Horton when they lived in the same trailer park, then ran into her the evening of July 11, 2001, at a bar where he was celebrating passing the test to get his commercial truck driving license.
"I've never denied being with her," he said recently from death row.
Kerr said he was "half drunk" and Horton was drunk when he decided to take her to his place where they had sex and then argued. She left alive, he insisted.
Authorities said Kerr pushed Horton out of a moving vehicle after sexually assaulting her, which caused her death. A taxi driver discovered her body in the street at 2 a.m. the following morning.
Kerr requested a final meal of pizza, fried chicken, baked chicken, lasagna, tacos, pork ribs with picante sauce, cheeseburger, quiche with meat, cheese and broccoli and ice cream for dessert.
The next execution, of Gayland Bradford of Dallas County, is scheduled June 1.
Kerr, who lived most of his life in the Dallas area, previously served a year in jail after pleading guilty to a 1999 charge of assault with intent to do bodily harm.
Kerr becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas this year and the 467th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. At least 8 others have execution dates in the coming months, including 4 in June.
Kerr becomes the 228th condemned inmate to be put to death since rick Perry became governor of Texas in 2001.
Kerr becomes the 13th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1247th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.
Source: The Huntsville Item, Rick Halperin, May 3, 2011
Texas executes first inmate using drug used on animals
(Reuters) - Texas on Tuesday carried out its first execution using a sedative often used to euthanize animals.
Cary Kerr, 46, was put to death by lethal injection for the 2001 sexual assault and strangling of Pamela Horton.
The new drug, pentobarbital, replaced sodium thiopental in Texas' three-drug execution protocol.
The change was necessary because Hospira Inc. of Illinois announced in January it would stop making the sodium thiopental after Italy objected to Hospira manufacturing an execution drug in that country. That caused a shortage of the drug throughout the United States.
Ohio and Oklahoma have already switched to use of pentobarbital in executions.
Another Texas inmate, Cleve Foster, had been scheduled to be the first person in the state executed using the new drug last month. But Foster received a temporary stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court over concerns his state-appointed lawyers were ineffective.
Kerr was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. on Tuesday, said Michelle Lyons, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
"To the state of Texas: I am an innocent man," were among Kerr's final words, according to Lyons. "Never trust a court-appointed attorney. I am ready, warden."
Kerr was the third prisoner to be put to death this year in Texas, which executes more prisoners than any other state.
Texas executed 17 people in 2010, down from 24 in 2009.
Source: Reuters, May 3, 2011
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