Texas Executes Man Convicted Of Killing His Estranged Wife And Her Daughter

A Texas inmate convicted of fatally stabbing his estranged wife and drowning her 6-year-old daughter in a bathtub nearly 14 years ago was executed on Tuesday.

Green, 51, was convicted in 2010 for the murder of his wife, Lovetta Armstead, and her 6-year-old daughter, Jazzmen Montgomery, the year before. After Green learned that his wife wanted to annul their marriage, he fatally stabbed Armstead and drowned Montgomery in a bathtub, according to court filings. Green turned himself into the police and confessed to the killings.

"I took not one, but two people that we all loved, and I had to live with that while I was here. I ask that you forgive me, not for me but for y’all. I’m fixing to go home and y’all are going to be here. I want to make sure you don’t suffer. You have to forgive me to heal and move on," Green said in his final statement. He was pronounced dead at 7:07 p.m. Tuesday.

Gary Green, 51, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. 

In late February, lawyers representing Green sent a letter to John Creuzot, the District Attorney of Dallas County, requesting him to support their plea for delaying Green's execution in order to conduct additional tests to determine his intellectual disability. However, Creuzot did not join the motion.

During Green's trial, experts testified that he probably had schizoaffective disorder. However, his lawyers contend that his defense counsel did not thoroughly examine how the disorder affected Green's life or its role in the murders. In Texas, jurors can take into account mitigating factors such as mental illness when determining a death sentence. Green appealed his case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, but they affirmed his conviction and death sentence.

“An explanation of Green’s manifestation of schizoaffective disorder would have aided the jury in weighing Green’s moral culpability for his offense,” Michael Mowla, one of Green’s attorneys, said in a statement. “It is clear from Green’s statements that his mental state at the time of the crime was heavily influenced by his severe and persistent mental illness, especially as filtered through his severe cognitive limitations."

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the execution of individuals with intellectual disabilities. In Texas, the criteria for defining intellectual disability include low IQ scores, with a general threshold of 70, as well as an assessment of an inmate's ability to interact with others and take care of themselves, and whether any deficiencies in these areas occurred before the age of 18. While Green's lowest IQ score submitted during his state proceedings was 78, which is considered in the "borderline" range of intellectual functioning.

In a letter to Armstead, Green revealed that he had planned to end the lives of five people. However, on the day of the murders, Armstead's two sons, who were 9 and 12 years old at the time, convinced him not to kill them, as documented in court records. Subsequently, Green attempted suicide by ingesting a significant amount of Tylenol and Benadryl. Later, when he surrendered to the authorities several hours after the incident, he claimed that he believed Armstead's family was conspiring against him.

A month before the murders, Green sought assistance at Timberlawn psychiatric hospital in Dallas. However, he was mistakenly diagnosed, and after just four days, he was discharged. Later, he was unable to continue the antipsychotic medication prescribed to him due to its high cost.

Green was engaged in a legal dispute concerning the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's use of expired drugs to carry out executions. Due to a shortage of pharmacies willing to provide execution drugs, the department has been extending the use-by dates of lethal injection drugs for several years. This practice could potentially result in a more painful execution process.

According to inmates, the state prison system's extension of expiration dates for execution drugs should not be permitted. They argue that this practice violates the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment in the United States.

Source: The Texas Tribune: CBS News