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| Death row inmates in Texas, Oklahoma executed |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 08/27/2004 |
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A death row inmate whose case attracted the attention of celebrity capital punishment opponent Susan Sarandon was executed Thursday evening for killing a convenience store clerk. Speaking slowly and quietly, his voice halting at times, James Allridge thanked his family and friends for loving him and expressed remorse. "I am sorry, I really am," he said in a brief final statement. "I am sorry I destroyed y'all's life," he said looking at the family of his victim. "Thank you for forgiving me. To the moon and back, I love you all. I leave you all as I came -- in love." Nine minutes after the lethal injection, he was pronounced dead. Allridge, 41, was the 12th Texas inmate executed this year and the second in as many nights. He was convicted of killing Fort Worth store clerk Brian Clendennen, 21, who was robbed of $300. Also Thursday, Oklahoma death row inmate Windel Ray Workman was executed by injection for the 1987 beating death of his live-in girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter. He was the sixth person executed in Oklahoma this year. Sarandon visited Allridge last month, has purchased some of his prison-made artwork and for years corresponded with him. The 57-year-old actress won an Academy Award in 1996 for her portrayal of death penalty opponent Helen Prejean in the movie version of the New Orleans-based nun's book "Dead Man Walking." Prejean was among those who witnessed the execution. Allridge's brother, Ronald, was also put to death, in 1995, for killing a woman during the robbery of a fast-food restaurant. Two other brothers were at Thursday's execution. "Our parents have lost their second son by lethal injection to the state of Texas," they said in a statement. "Their pain is incomprehensible." Allridge's attorneys were rejected in their last-day appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the punishment and review the case. They had argued that his rehabilitation disproved his trial jury's finding he'd be a continuing threat to society -- one of the criteria for the death penalty in Texas. In the Oklahoma case, Workman, 46, was executed for the Jan. 10, 1987, killing of Amanda Holman. Three doctors involved in the case said the little girl died of blunt head trauma, and that her injuries were consistent with being hit by a fist, a hard object or being slammed into a wall, court records say. Workman maintained his innocence, claiming the bruises were caused by Amanda's falls from her bed and in the bathtub. Later, he claimed either Amanda's mom or grandmother were at fault. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Denver denied Workman's last-ditch efforts to save himself, rejecting his claims of innocence and inadequate trial defense. He did not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. "I feel relieved," said Rebecca Griffitts, Amanda's mother, "but yet saddened, disappointed because he did not admit out of his own words and take responsibility for what he did." |
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