Texas Execution: No Last Meal Special Order In Milestone 500th Execution


A Texas execution represented both the rare execution of a female convicted prisoner and the 500th execution in the state since legal executions were resumed in 1982.

52-year-old Kimberly McCarthy was put to death by lethal injection for the 1997 Dallas robbery and murder of a 71-year-old neighbor on Wednesday night. A fuller account of last night’s 500th Texas execution can be found right here.

According to a Dallas News timeline, McCarthy was given the lethal injection around 6:17 CDT and declared dead 20 minutes later at 6:37 PM.

She had arrived at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas earlier that day to prepare for her execution. Although she’d received two reprieves earlier this year while judges looked into claims that McCarthy was a victim of racial discrimination and poor legal representation, the courts ultimately ruled that it was too late to hear those appeals.

Texas leads the nation in executions and has performed roughly 40 percent of the executions in the United States since a Supreme Court ruling allowed states to resume applying the death penalty.

With the grim milestone of 500 executions now under its belt, Texas has changed some of its traditions surrounding the procedure over the years.

Although convicted killers slated for execution used to be able to request a special traditional last meal, Kimberly McCarthy didn’t enjoy that privilege. She can only eat the same last meal that the other inmates are having that night.

Dallas News said that the forgettable menu items were “pepper steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, mixed veggies and white cake with chocolate icing.”

The Houston Chronicle said that the tradition of the last meal was ended after the 2011 execution of Lawrence Brewer, one of the men who participated in the racially motivated dragging murder of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas. Brewer didn’t hold back when placing his order for “two chicken fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, a cheese omelet, a large bowl of fried okra, three orders of fajitas, a pint of Blue Bell ice cream, and a pound of barbecue with a half loaf of white bread.”

But Brewer didn’t actually eat the meal, calling for Senate Criminal Justice Committee Chairman John Whitmire (D-Houston) to demand an end to the practice of feeding convicts a special last meal before a Texas execution.

Kimberly McCarthy photo by Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice

[lethal injection execution chamber image via CA Corrections]

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