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| Man Who Killed While Teen Executed |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 10/24/2001 |
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A man who spent nearly half of his life on death row was executed by injection in Texas Monday night for a murder he committed at the age of 17. Before he was put to death, Gerald Mitchell apologized to the mother of his victim. 'I am sorry for the pain. I am sorry for the life I took from you. I ask God for forgiveness and I ask you for the same,' the 33-year-old convicted killer said, looking at Diane Marino, whose son Charles was killed by Mitchell. He then turned to his family and friends, advising them to be strong. His sister, Marsha, sobbed and slid to her knees on the floor of the witness area, By the time he was arrested for shooting three people in 1985, killing two of them, Mitchell had a history of robbery and theft and had been expelled from an alternative school. Mitchell's attorneys, some mental health groups and death penalty opponents had contended his age at the time of the crime should have kept him from the Texas death chamber. 'Execution should not be the consequence of juvenile crime, no matter how horrendous,' said Michael Faenza, president and chief executive officer of the Virginia-based National Mental Health Association. Mitchell's lawyers had asked the Supreme Court to block his execution, arguing that the penalty would violate international law. The high court on Monday turned down the request to delay the execution. Congress, however, never has ratified provisions in treaties that would bar capital punishment for those convicted of crimes when they were less than 18. But in asking for a review of the case by the high court, Mitchell's lawyers contended customary international law is law in the United States and that a 'clear international consensus' has developed against execution of people under the age of 18 at the time of their offense. The Supreme Court has ruled that a defendant's rights were not violated when the death sentence was imposed on a murder convict who was at least 16 at the time of the offense. And Texas law allows the death sentence to be imposed on those convicted of capital murder at age 17. Mitchell was condemned for killing Marino, 20, in June 1985. Marino was fatally shot after he and his brother-in-law, Kenneth Fleming, tried to buy $1 worth of marijuana from Mitchell, court records show. That same day, Mitchell shot and killed Hector Munguia, 18, while trying to rob him. Mitchell had received two 60-year sentences for the Munguia and Fleming shootings. This was the second capital punishment case involving a teen-ager in recent months in Texas. But Mitchell's case has failed to attract the global attention given in August to fellow inmate Napoleon Beazley, who was spared hours before he was to have been put to death for killing the father of a federal appeals court judge when he was 17. |
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