Execution: Reginald Blanton
David Carson
October 2009 in Huntsville, Texas for robbing and murdering a man in
his apartment.
On 13 April 2000 in San Antonio, Blanton, then 18, his twin brother,
Robert, and Robert's girlfriend, LaToya Mayberry, went to the
apartment of Carlos Garza, 20, an acquaintance of theirs. While
Mayberry waited in the car, the twins kicked in the door of Garza's
apartment and went inside. Two shots were fired, one of them hitting
Garza in the forehead. After taking some jewelry and cash, and looking
for drugs to steal, the twins returned to the car, and the party drove
away. Garza was unconscious when emergency workers arrived, but died
on the way to the hospital.
Two days later, Mayberry was arrested following an altercation with
Robert. She then told the police about the murder. She said when she
was sitting in the car, she heard "two booms" from the door being
kicked in, then "two more booms" from the gunshots. She said she saw
Reginald return to the car with jewelry in his hand, including two
necklaces. She said Robert told her Garza confronted them while they
were inside the apartment, and Reginald shot him. According to
Mayberry, Reginald also stole $100 in cash.
San Antonio police recovered Garza's jewelry from a local pawn shop.
Reginald Blanton was recorded on videotape about 20 minutes after the
shooting, selling two of Garza's gold necklaces and a religious medal
for $79. At the time of arrest, he was wearing a ring and bracelet
that had also belonged to Garza.
As a juvenile, Blanton had convictions for burglary, auto theft, and
unlawfully carrying a weapon, as well as for lesser charges including
shoplifting, possession of marijuana, and trespassing. In May 2001,
while awaiting trial for capital murder, he assaulted an inmate for
testifying in another inmate's capital murder trial.
A jury convicted Blanton of capital murder in August 2001 and
sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed
the conviction and sentence in June 2004. All of his subsequent
appeals in state and federal court were denied.
Robert Blanton was not charged in Garza's murder, but he has
subsequently been convicted of possessing drugs, evading arrest,
failing to report to his parole officer, and assaulting his wife,
causing bodily injury. He is currently in prison, serving a 2-year
sentence for possession of a controlled substance.
Reginald Blanton always maintained his innocence. In an interview with
an anti-death-penalty activist, Blanton said that he, his brother, and
Mayberry did visit Garza's apartment on the day of his death, but not
finding him home, they left. "On the way to our respective homes,"
Blanton said, "I asked my brother to stop by the pawn shop so I could
pawn some jewelry. It was a last minute decision on my part. What
makes this difficult to talk about is the fact that the jewelry had
previously belonged to Carlos ... While we were on the east side, the
particular side of town we were leaving from before we stopped by the
pawn shop, somebody was kicking in Carlos's door, killing him."
Blanton said that he and the victim both wore a lot of jewelry and
frequently traded it to each other when rolling dice. He said some
photographs taken 2� months before the murder, showing him wearing the
same jewelry he pawned, were admitted into evidence at his trial, but
that evidence was overlooked. "And though I have done some stupid
things in my ignorant years," he continued, "never would I pawn
something I stole. That is beyond comprehension."
Blanton said that LaToya Mayberry was coerced by homicide detectives
into signing a statement naming him as the murderer so that the
assault charge against her would be dropped. Next, they used Mayberry,
who was pregnant with Robert's child, as leverage against Robert to
force him into also signing a statement.
"Carlos was my friend. I didn't murder him," Blanton said in his last
statement at his execution. "What is happening right now is an
injustice. This doesn't solve anything. This will not bring back
Carlos ... I am not the man that did this." Blanton also complained
about the drugs being used to execute him, pointing out that they were
not permitted for use to put down dogs. Finally, he expressed love to
his fiancee, Sandra Stafford, who watched from a viewing room, and to
his friends who also attended. "Stay strong, continue to fight. I will
see y'all again." The lethal injection was then started. He was
pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.
David Carson
(Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of
Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Associated Content, public
records.)
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Texas Execution Information
www.txexecutions.org