82 Sentences, Each Taken from the ‘Last Statement’ of a Person Executed by the State of Texas Since 1984

Um, I don’t know what to say. I am not as strong as I thought I was going to be, but I guess it only hurts for a little while. I sat in my cell many days wondering what my last words would be. I’m not going to shout, use profanity, or make idle threats. I am not going to play a part in my own murder, no one should have to do that. Can you hear me? This here is a tragedy. They are fixing to pump my veins with a lethal drug the American Veterinary Association won’t even allow to be used on dogs. I should not have to be here. I’m not a killer. I know how it look but I didn’t do it. I didn’t kill my wife. I did not kill those drug dealers. I did not murder your loved one. I am sure he died unjustly, just like I am. I have done everything to prove my innocence. If I am paying my debt to society, I am due a rebate and a refund. Everybody has problems. I allowed the devil to rule my life. I was a kid in a grown man’s world. I was sick, afraid, and looking for love in all the wrong ways. I messed up, made poor choices. But I am not guilty of this crime. I don’t think the world will be a better or safer place without me. I hereby protest my pending execution. There are a lot of things that are not right in this world, I have had to overcome them myself. You know this ain’t right. I don’t know why all of this happened. I just played the hand that life dealt me. I understand that you wanted this day to come, you got what you wanted. I’m sure you think this is wonderful in your eyes. If this takes the pain away, so be it. Whatever makes y’all happy. I know you believe that you’re going to have closure. The truth is that you are going to feel empty after tonight. A revenge death won’t get you anything. Sooner or later every one of y’all will be along behind me. You will answer to your Maker when God has found out that you executed an innocent man. I wouldn’t wish this on you. I forgive all y’all. It is all part of life, like a big full plate of food for the soul. Tell everyone I got full on chicken and pork chops. I am going to miss those pancakes and those old-time black-and-white shows. Sometimes it works out like this. I would like to tell my wife that I love her and thank her for all the years of happiness. I don’t want to leave you baby, see you when you get there. To my kids, stand tall and continue to make me proud. Don’t fight with each other. I know this is hard for y’all, but we are going to have to go through it. Don’t cry, it’s my situation. I’ll be fine. I won’t have to wake up in prison anymore. Don’t be angry at what is happening to me. Enjoy life’s moments because we never get them back. Yesterday was my birthday. Ain’t life a bitch? Where’s my stunt double when you need one? Oh, Lord. I am going home. I might have lost the fight but I’m still a soldier. I am taking it like a man, like a warrior. Preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Tell them I finished strong. Death before dishonor. With this let all debts be paid that I owed, real or imagined. Lord, send me a chariot. Hallelujah, holy, holy, holy. I guess that’s it. It’s my hour. Only the sky and the green grass goes on forever. I’m done. I have come here today to die, not make speeches. Warden, if you are going to murder someone, go ahead and do it, pull the trigger. Let’s give them what they want. I’m ready when y’all are. Are they already doing it? I can feel it, taste it. My left arm is killing me, it hurts bad. Let me know that I will be in Heaven tonight, please let me know, I don’t want to be in Hell with Satan or anyone else, please, that is something I need to know. I am starting to go. I am going to sleep now. Begins singing: Amazing Grace.

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Editorial Note:
Below are the names and links to sources for each of the sentences in this poem.

1. James Clark, executed on April 11, 2007

2. Dominique Green, executed on October 26, 2004

3. Cleve Foster, executed on September 25, 2012

4. Napoleon Beazley, executed on May 28, 2002

5. Lamont Reese, executed on June 20, 2006

6. Bruce Jacobs, executed on May 15, 2003

7. Windell Broussard, executed on January 30, 2002

8. Reginald Blanton, executed on October 27, 2009

9. Robert Salazar Jr., executed on March 22, 2006

10. Rickey Lynn Lewis, executed on April 9, 2013

11. Stacey Lawton, executed on November 14, 2000

12. Keith Thurmond, executed on March 7, 2012

13. Gerald Tigner, executed on March 7, 2002

14. Jerry Martin, executed on December 3, 2013

15. Luis Ramirez, executed on October 20, 2005

16. Gregory Wright, executed on October 30, 2008

17. Billy Hughes, executed on January 24, 2000

18. James Colburn, executed on March 26, 2003

19. Angel Maturino Resendiz, executed on June 27, 2006

20. Beunka Adams, executed on April 26, 2012

21. Cornelius Goss, executed on February 23, 2000

22. Franklin DeWayne Alix, executed on March 30, 2010

23. Jesse Jacobs, executed on January 4, 1995

24. Jeffery Doughtie, executed on August 16, 2001

25. Douglas Feldman, executed on July 31, 2013

26. Adam Ward, executed on March 22, 2016

27. Ricky McGinn, executed on September 27, 2000

28. Guadalupe Esparza, executed on November 16, 2011

29. Willie Pondexter, executed on March 3, 2009

30. Richard Kutzner, executed on August 7, 2002

31. William Chappell, executed on November 20, 2002

32. James McCoskey, executed on November 12, 2013

33. Tory Clark, executed on September 26, 2018

34. Alvin Kelly, executed on October 14, 2008

35. Joseph Ray Ries, executed on October 21, 2008

36. Robert Ladd, executed on January 29, 2015

37. Thomas Mason, executed on June 21, 2000

38. Roy Pippin, executed on March 29, 2007

39. Arturo Diaz, executed on September 26, 2013

40. Leon Dorsey, executed on August 12, 2008

41. Quintin Phillippe Jones, executed on May 19, 2021

42. Michael Riley, executed on May 19, 2009

43. Billy Jack Crutsinger, executed on September 5, 2019

44. Marcus Cotton, executed on March 3, 2004

45. John Quintanilla Jr., executed on July 16, 2013

46. Tracy Beatty, executed on November 9, 2022

47. Wesley Ruiz, executed on February 1, 2023

48. Robert Garza, executed on September 19, 2013

49. Vaughn Ross, executed on July 18, 2013

50. Derrick Johnson, executed on April 30, 2009

51. James Edward Martinez, executed on March 10, 2009

52. Bryan Wolfe, executed on May 18, 2005

53. Johnny Conner, executed on August 22, 2007

54. Robert Mitchell Jennings, executed on January 30, 2019

55. Rosendo Rodriguez III, executed on March 27, 2018

56. G. W. Green, executed on November 12, 1991

57. Vincent Gutierrez, executed on March 28, 2007

58. James Moreland, executed on January 27, 2000

59. Kimberly McCarthy, executed on June 26, 2013

60. Erick Daniel Davila, executed on April 25, 2018

61. Elkie Taylor, executed on November 6, 2008

62. Khristian Oliver, executed on November 5, 2009

63. Lisa Coleman, executed on September 17, 2014

64. William Josef Berkley, executed on April 22, 2010

65. David Lee Goff, executed on April 25, 2001

66. Robert Moreno Ramos, executed on November 14, 2018

67. Frank Garcia, executed on October 27, 2011

68. Kent W. Sprouse, executed on April 9, 2015

69. Tommie Hughes, executed on March 15, 2006

70. David Martinez, executed on March 7, 2023

72. Delbert Teague Jr., executed on September 9, 1998

73. Steven Woods, executed on September 13, 2011

74. Melvin Wayne White, executed on November 03, 2005

75. Aaron Christopher Foust, executed on April 28, 1999

76. Rodrigo Hernandez, executed on January 26, 2012

77. Jesse Hernandez, executed on March 28, 2012

78. Jonathan Green, executed on October 10, 2012

79. James Richardson, executed on May 23, 2000

80. John Alba, executed on May 25, 2010

81. Rogelio Cannady, executed on May 19, 2010

82. Jermarr Arnold, executed on January 16, 2002