Death Penalty
Executions Are For the Victims' Families (except when they're not … )
death-penalty
on July 7, 2008 at 12:50 PM
On Thursday, Texas is set to execute Carlton Akee Turner. He murdered his parents. He has said he killed his father in self defense (Carlton Turner Sr. had been a very abusive, including breaking his son's leg when he was 7 years old); he has also said he doesn't know why he killed his mother.
The thing is, as Bob Ray Sanders reports in today's Fort Worth Star Telegram, members of the Turner family don't want this execution to happen (the "vast majority" of family members, according to Turner's clemency petition). These include the brother and first cousin of Turner's mother Tonya, both of whom have submitted signed affidavits calling for mercy.
"Kelly Johnson of Philadelphia, Tonya's brother, wrote: ‘I do not wish to see my sister's only child executed. I believe in my heart that my sister would only have wanted Akee to receive the help that he needed to restore his mind to a sound state.'"
"Tonya Turner's first cousin and close friend, Krishell Coleman of Lawrenceville, Ga., said, ‘I don't think Carlton should be executed. I don't want him to be executed. Now that I know more of the details that led to the murders, I realize that he needs help. Killing him is just another murder. Nothing is going to bring my cousin back. Killing him will just hurt our family again, the way Tonya and Carlton's murders did.'"
Will the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Texas Governor Rick Perry respect the wishes of this family? We will know by Thursday.
Brian
DPAC
Back to entriesComment on this entry
Comments: 4
Debbie Kearns
(Homepage)
on July 7, 2008 at 3:54 PM
I'm gonna have to agree with Kelly and Krishell. Killing Carlton will only wipe out the Turner family line, destroying it. Carlton needs medical help, along with life in prison and/or clemency. I hope that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Perry don't reject Carlton's family's wishes. I don't want another heartbreak or the Turner family on the brink of self-destruction or extinction. It's like Texas is trying to kill off the entire family for their evil, or like God killing off one family of parents and their children just because they do not obey him, or like the Bolsheviks killing off the Romanov family just because they were thought to be "rich and oppressive". Killing off the entire family line is wrong. Aren't we all human beings who deserve mercy, not death?
Zithromax
(Homepage)
on July 10, 2008 at 5:32 PM
I Agree with Debbie lets all say no to the death penalty How can humans that tend to mistake judge other humans?
Debbie Kearns
(Homepage)
on July 11, 2008 at 1:14 PM
I feel like I have sad news. The pleas of Carlton Turner's family were ignored, and Turner was murdered last night by lethal injection, wiping out the entire Turner family line, and all because of a racist justice system. *cries* This is what happens when the moral fabric of society breaks down! Just one more senseless act of injustice, and one more mercy plea refused. Everyone seems to ignore mercy pleas from families for their loved ones to be spared right when they were needed the most. When your relative killed his relatives and you deny that relative the right to life, your mercy pleas for your relative's life will later be denied, and you will have just killed your only reason and your life. I feel like we're all reverting to serving a dark and vengeful God instead of a loving, compassionate God. Toby Keith was right: there IS no right way to do a wrong thing, like executing a person after a blatantly unfair trial. My heart breaks along with those of the rest of Turner's family who faced the punishment of losing their loved one to execution. May Turner and his adoptive parents finally rest in peace in the mercy of God, the mercy that was so long denied for them. :*(
Carolyn Morgan
on July 16, 2008 at 1:57 PM
Dear Debbie,
I am saddened about the lethal injection of Carlton, yet I must ask you, "What does God have to do with the decision that was made?"God is loving and merciful and I hope that Carlton Turner was able to have made his peace with God before he died. I also pray that his parents had the opportunity to do the same.
I am saddened about the lethal injection of Carlton, yet I must ask you, "What does God have to do with the decision that was made?"God is loving and merciful and I hope that Carlton Turner was able to have made his peace with God before he died. I also pray that his parents had the opportunity to do the same.
For all blogs
