Carl Wayne Buntion (78) was executed at Huntsville’s state penitentiary. For the nearly 20-year-old fatal shooting of Houston officer James Irby in June 1990, Buntion was sentenced.
Buntion’s lawyers had requested that the U.S. Supreme Court stop Buntion from being executed.
Buntion, while being strapped to the Texas death chamber chair gurney, said that “I wanted to let the Irby family know one thing: I do feel remorse for the things I did.” “I pray that God will give them closure for my killing Ms. Irby’s father.”
“I hope you will see me in heaven one day, and when I do, I will give you a big hug.”
Buntion and his spiritual advisor began to pray Psalm 23 “The Lord is My Shepherd ” as the fatal dose of pentobarbital began. He took a deep, exhaling, and then he coughed again.
He was declared dead 13 minutes later at 6:39 pm.
A number of motorcyclists clapped their hands in support of the victim, revving their engines loudly as the execution began. The death chamber could hear the sound.
Buntion was on parole for six weeks and had just shot Irby, 37. Buntion, a man with a long criminal history, was a passenger in Irby’s car. Buntion was sentenced to death by an appeals court in 2009. However, a third jury sentenced him to death three more years later.
After watching Buntion’s execution, Maura Irby’s widow said, “I feel joy.” “I’m sorry that someone died. He was not a person to me. He was just a thing to me, a cancer that has engulfed my family.”
James Irby talked about retiring and spending more time with his children before he was killed, Maura Irby (60) said earlier.
She said that “He was willing to fill out all the paperwork and stay at home to open a feed shop.” He wanted to be the dad who went to all the ballgames, and father-daughter dances. He was the love of our lives, a super man.
Several federal and state courts rejected Buntion’s appeals to end his death sentence. On Tuesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected Buntion’s request for clemency.
Buntion’s lawyers claimed that he was responsible Irby’s death, and “deserves to be punished severely.”
They argued that Buntion’s execution was not constitutional because a jury found him a future threat to society. This was one reason he was sentenced to death. Also, his execution would have no legal purpose since so much time has passed. Buntion was described by his attorneys as a geriatric prisoner who did not pose a threat because he had arthritis, vertigo, and required a wheelchair.
“This three-decade delay undermines the justification for the death penalty. In court documents, his lawyers Jeffrey Newberry and David Dow wrote that delay can reduce any deterrent effect.
Buntion was executed as the oldest Texas inmate since 1976 when the Supreme Court lifted the ban on capital punishment. Walter Moody Jr. was the oldest American inmate to be executed in America today. He was 83 years of age when his execution took place in Alabama in 2018.
Buntion was also executed as the first Texas prisoner in 2022. Despite Texas being the most populous capital punishment state in the country, it has been almost seven months since an execution was performed. In the past two years, there have been three executions. This is due to the coronavirus virus pandemic as well as delays caused by legal questions regarding Texas’ refusal to permit spiritual advisors to touch death chamber inmates or pray aloud.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states must grant requests for faith leaders to pray and touch execution inmates.
Texas was about to execute Buntion. However, officials in Tennessee stopped Buntion’s execution. This would have been the first execution in Texas since the outbreak of the pandemic. Oscar Smith, 72 years old, was to be executed for 1989 murders of his estranged spouse and her teenage sons. Republican Governor Republican Gov.
Texas prison officials granted Buntion’s request that his spiritual advisor pray aloud to him and touch him during his execution.
Barry Brown, the adviser, placed his right-hand on Buntion’s right leg just before the drugs started flowing. He prayed for five minutes. Barry Brown said Buntion was no longer a “hardheaded young man”, but that he had been “humbled” by the prison walls and cold steel.
Although the execution brought back painful memories, Irby stated that it reminded her of her advocacy work for public safety following her husband’s passing, which included helping to create legislation that permitted victim impact statements at trials.
She said Thursday night, “I still miss his, 32 years later,”
