Alvin Braziel Jr., 43, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday at the Huntsville “Walls” Unit. He would be the 13th inmate put to death by the state this year.
Lora and Douglas White were married for 10 days when the couple decided on Sept. 21, 1993, to take a walk around Eastfield College in Mesquite. It was the last thing the newlyweds would do together. The night tragically ended in a murder and rape that eventually landed Braziel Jr. on death row.
Braziel demanded money from the couple, when he did not find anything to rob he shot the husband once in the head and once in his heart, and then dragged the wife to a bush where he raped her.
Braziel was convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 after he was linked to the murder when he was serving a five-year sentence for a 1996 conviction of sexual assault against a 15-year-old, blood samples from Braziel were tested against samples taken from Lora’s rape kit from the night her husband was killed. The two samples were a match, and Lora also identified Braziel in a photo lineup.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied Braziel’s last round of appeals in 2016.
his lawyers asked the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to stop his execution, arguing in part he should not receive a lethal injection because he is intellectually disabled.
Alvin Braziel Jr. would be the 24th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the 13th executed in Texas, which is the nation's busiest capital punishment state. He would be the last Texas inmate executed this year.
