A Texas man convicted of killing three people during a drug robbery was executed Wednesday evening, one week after his alleged accomplice was put to death for the same murders.
Ker’Sean Ramey, 41, was executed by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville and pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT, according to The Associated Press.
Inside the execution chamber, a prison chaplain placed a hand on Ramey’s shoulder and led him in a short prayer. The warden then asked whether he had any final statement, the AP reported.
Ramey praised God and expressed gratitude to his friends, family members and fellow death row prisoners, whom he referred to as his brothers.
This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Ker’Sean Ramey on Oct. 31, 2022. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
“To the brothers on Texas death row that grew up with me, that poured into me and showed what it means to be a man, because I came in young, and didn’t understand what manhood was… to you brothers… I greatly appreciate you,” Ramey said shortly before the lethal injection began.
As the pentobarbital took effect, Ramey inhaled deeply, sputtered and began snoring. He became still after 10 loud snores and two that were barely audible.
Officials pronounced him dead 14 minutes after the injection was administered.
Ramey was the sixth person executed in Texas this year. The state plans to carry out three additional lethal injections during the next two months.
He was convicted and sentenced to death in January 2007 for the August 2005 shootings of Samuel Roberts, 24, Tiffani Peacock, 18, and Celso Lopez, 38. The victims were killed at the home they shared in Edna, a small rural city roughly 100 miles southwest of Houston.
The state of Texas execution chamber in Huntsville, Texas, is seen on May 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
According to court records, Ramey’s accomplice, LeJames Norman, lived across the street from the residence. The two men came to believe the home contained cocaine.
On Aug. 24, 2005, they approached the house wearing masks and knocked on the door. When Lopez answered, the men forced their way inside, court records state.
After discovering there were no drugs, the men shot Lopez. They later killed Peacock and Roberts when the pair arrived at the house. Court documents say Ramey returned before the men left and shot the victims again to make sure they were dead.
Norman was executed Sept. 16 at the Huntsville prison, the site of all executions in Texas.
The Huntsville Unit prison is seen in Huntsville, Texas, on Sept. 14, 2024. (Francois Picard/AFP)
The Supreme Court rejected Ramey’s final appeal hours before his execution. His lawyers argued that jurors had not heard mitigating evidence about his childhood, including that he suffered physical abuse and was raised in poverty.
Texas prosecutors asked the Supreme Court to deny the appeal, describing it as “meritless” and arguing that Ramey’s record reflected an escalating pattern of criminal conduct.
Norman was arrested about five months after the killings while trying to cross back into the United States from Mexico, where he had fled. At Ramey’s January 2007 trial, Norman testified that both men participated in the shootings, while Ramey’s attorneys maintained that Norman alone was responsible.
This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows LeJames Norman on Feb. 28, 2024. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
Ramey’s former girlfriend testified that she was with him when he threw two handguns into a lake after the killings and that he later gave her a detailed account of his role in the crime.
Norman pleaded guilty to capital murder and was sentenced to death in December 2008.