US government executes man convicted of killing Texas teen (21 November 2020, for {EMAIL})

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Orlando Hall got stiffed on a drug deal and went to a Texas apartment looking for the two brothers who took his money. They weren't home, but their 16-year-old sister was. Late Thursday, Hall was put to death for abducting and killing the teenager, Lisa Rene. His was the eighth federal execution this year since the Trump administration revived a process that had been used just three times in the past 56 years. A judge’s stay over concerns about the execution drug gave Hall a reprieve, but for less than six hours. After the Supreme Court overturned the stay, he was put to death just before midnight. Hall, a changed man in prison according to his lawyers and a church volunteer who had grown close to him, was consoling his family and supporters at the end. “I’m OK,” he said in a final statement, then adding, “Take care of yourselves. Tell my kids I love them.” As the drug was administered, Hall, 49, lifted his head, appeared to wince briefly and twitched his feet. He appeared to mumble to himself and twice he opened his mouth wide, as if he was yawning. Each time that was followed by short, seemingly labored, breaths. He then stopped breathing. Soon after, an official with a stethoscope came into the execution chamber to check for a heartbeat before Hall was officially declared dead. Hall’s attorneys also had sought to halt the execution over concerns that Hall, who was Black, was sentenced on the recommendation of an all-white jury. The Congressional Black Caucus asked Attorney General William Barr to stop it because the coronavirus “will make any scheduled execution a tinderbox for further outbreaks and exacerbate concerns over the possibility of miscarriage of justice,” according to a letter to Barr. Meanwhile, another judge ruled Thursday that the U.S. government must delay until next year the first execution of a female federal inmate in almost six decades after her attorneys contracted the coronavirus visiting her in prison. Lisa Montgomery had been scheduled to be put to death on Dec. 8. Hall was among five men convicted in the abduction and death of Lisa Rene in 1994. According to federal court documents, Hall was a marijuana trafficker in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, who would sometimes buy drugs in the Dallas area. On Sept. 24, 1994, he met two men at a Dallas-area car wash and gave them $4,700 with the expectation they would return later with the marijuana. The two men were Rene’s brothers. Instead, the men claimed their car and money were stolen. Hall and others figured they were lying and were able to track down the address of the brothers’ apartment in Arlington, Texas. When Hall and three other men arrived, the brothers weren’t there. Lisa Rene was home, alone. Court records offer a chilling account of the terror she faced. “They’re trying to break down my door! Hurry up!” she told a 911 dispatcher. A muffled scream is heard seconds later, with a man saying, “Who you on the phone with?” The line then goes dead. “She was studying for a test and had her textbooks on the couch when these guys came knocking on the front door,” retired Arlington detective John Stanton Sr. recalled. Police arrived within minutes of the 911 call, but the men were gone, with Rene. Stanton still winces at the near-miss of thwarting the crime in its early stages. “It was one that I won’t ever forget,” Stanton said. “This one was particularly heinous.” The men drove to a motel in Pine Bluff. Rene was repeatedly sexually assaulted during the drive and at the motel over the next two days. On Sept. 26, Hall and two other men drove Rene to Byrd Lake Natural Area in Pine Bluff, her eyes covered by a mask. They led her to a grave site they had dug a day earlier. Hall placed a sheet over Rene’s head then hit her in the head with a shovel. When she ran another man and Hall took turns hitting her with the shovel before she was gagged and dragged into the grave, where she was doused in gasoline before dirt was shoveled over her. A coroner determined that Rene was still alive when she was buried and died of asphyxiation in the grave, where she was found eight days later. Rene’s older sister, Pearl Rene, said in a statement that she and her family “are very relieved that this is over. We have been dealing with this for 26 years and now we’re having to relive the tragic nightmare that our beloved Lisa went through.” Crossing the Texas-Arkansas line made the case a federal crime. One of Hall’s accomplices, Bruce Webster, also was sentenced to death, though a court last year vacated the sentence because Webster is intellectually disabled. Three other men, including Hall’s brother, received lesser sentences in exchange for their cooperation at trial. Hall’s lawyers contend that jurors who recommended the death penalty weren’t told of the severe trauma he faced as a child or that he once saved a 3-year-old nephew from drowning by leaping into a motel pool from a balcony. Donna Keogh, 67, first met Hall 16 years ago when she and other volunteers from her Catholic church set up a program to provide Christmas presents for children of inmates at the federal prison. They have corresponded ever since. She doesn’t understand what executing Hall accomplishes. “My faith tells me that all life is precious and that includes the lives on death row,” Keogh said. “I just don’t see any purpose.” Five of the first six federal executions this year involved white men; the other was Navajo. Christopher Vialva, who was Black, was put to death Sept. 24. Critics have argued that executing white inmates first was a political calculation in a nation embroiled in racial bias concerns involving the criminal justice system, especially in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis in May. Daily digest [US government executes man convicted of killing Texas teen]( [US government executes man convicted of killing Texas teen]( [TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — Orlando Hall got stiffed on a drug deal and went to a Texas apartment looking for the two brothers who took his money. They weren't home, but their 16-year-old sister was. Late Thursday, Hall was put to death for abducting and killing the teenager, Lisa Rene. His was the...]( [Black health leaders urge fair access to COVID-19 vaccine]( [Black health leaders urge fair access to COVID-19 vaccine]( [GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — As we get closer to having an approved coronavirus vaccine, there are concerns about when it becomes available who will have access to it. Experts say there is a lingering mistrust between the Black community and public health officials that mainly stems from the...]( [Mental health advocates offer advice ahead of holidays]( [Mental health advocates offer advice ahead of holidays]( [GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Mental health advocates are offering advice for people who aren’t going home for holidays and might be struggling with the transition. They say instead of the large family gatherings we normally think of this is the year to try something new. Zoom is removing time...]( [Christmas tree farm keeps tradition alive amid pandemic]( [Christmas tree farm keeps tradition alive amid pandemic]( [ROBINSON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — If your Christmas decorations are already up, don’t worry, you’re not the only one. The holiday is more than a month away, but many are getting into the spirit of the season early this year. Christmas tree farms are cashing in on the excitement. Holiday lights...]( - Advertisement - Top stories [Servers file for unemployment for 2nd time this year]( [Servers file for unemployment for 2nd time this year]( [GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Without a paycheck once again, local servers and bartenders find themselves filing for unemployment benefits for the second time this year. It comes as the latest...]( [Update: MI man ID’d as baby kidnapped from Chicago hospital in 1964]( [Update: MI man ID’d as baby kidnapped from Chicago hospital in 1964]( [GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — There’s a new chapter in a bizarre and heartbreaking tale that began in a Chicago hospital room 56 years ago. A man in the tiny town of Manton, Michigan, has been...]( [Police: 4 suspects steal items from Wyoming store]( [Police: 4 suspects steal items from Wyoming store]( [WYOMING, Mich. (WOOD) — Wyoming police are investigating a break-in at a cellphone store. It happened just before 7:30 p.m. Friday at the AT&T store on 28th Street near Michael Avenue SW. Police...]( [2 dead, 2 injured in shooting at house in northern Michigan]( [2 dead, 2 injured in shooting at house in northern Michigan]( [ELBERTA, Mich. (AP) — Two people were killed and two more were critically injured in a shooting Friday at a house in northern Michigan's Benzie County, police said. A mother and her adult son died,...]( In case you missed it... [Holland’s outdoor holiday market to open Saturday]( [Holland’s outdoor holiday market to open Saturday]( [HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) — The outdoor holiday market in Holland will open Saturday for the first time this season. Holland city officials say Kerstmarkt worked closely with the Ottawa County Health Department to make the opening happen. There will be fencing around the market so they can control...]( [Pfizer seeking emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine in US]( [Pfizer seeking emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine in US]( [(AP) — Pfizer said Friday it is asking U.S. regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and eventually an end to the pandemic -- but not until after a long, hard winter. The action comes...]( [1 killed, 1 injured in wrong-way crash in Kentwood]( [1 killed, 1 injured in wrong-way crash in Kentwood]( [WALKER, Mich. (WOOD) — Police believe alcohol was a factor in a deadly wrong-way crash in Kentwood early Friday morning. The Kentwood Police Department said the crash happened shortly after 1:30 a.m. Friday on 28th Street SE near the intersection of E. Paris Avenue. Investigators say a westbound...]( [Traveling for Thanksgiving? States you need a COVID test before entering]( [Traveling for Thanksgiving? States you need a COVID test before entering]( [SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Thanksgiving this year will be one for the books as many plans and traditions will be altered because of the pandemic. While there will certainly be fewer Americans traveling this Thanksgiving than in years past, millions of Americans will still be traveling to visit loved...]( [Feedback]( [Unsubscribe]( [About us]( © 1998-2017 woodtv.com | Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. | 120 College Ave SE Grand Rapids, MI 49503 To ensure you receive these emails in the future, please add wood@publisher-news.com to your address book, contacts or list of safe senders.