Texas: George Whitaker III executed

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - A Houston-area man condemned for fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend's sister during an attack that also seriously wounded the former girlfriend's mother and another sister was executed Wednesday.

George Whitaker III expressed love to family members and asked for forgiveness.

"I apologize for your pain and suffering," he said, mentioning the parents of his victim by name. None of her relatives were present.

Whitaker asked that the Lord give them strength, adding, "I pray Lord, please forgive me."

He asked his stepfather, brother and a friend who watched through a window to take care of his two daughters.

"Continue to pray for me. I am fine. I've made peace with God. Please don't ever forget me," he said.

As the lethal drugs began flowing, Whitaker said, "Take care. I'm going on to sleep." Eight minutes later at 6:15 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead.

Whitaker had exhausted his appeals and also lost a clemency bid before the state parole board, clearing the way for him to become the 16th Texas prisoner executed this year. Another lethal injection was set for Thursday evening in the nation's busiest capital punishment state.

Whitaker, 36, was convicted of gunning down 16-year-old Shakeitha Carrier in 1994 at her family's home in Crosby, just east of Houston in Harris County.

The slain girl's older sister, Catina, was engaged to Whitaker and had been living with him but ended the relationship and moved out amid accusations of abuse. Whitaker showed up at her parents' home on a June afternoon under the guise of returning some of her items, pulled a gun and demanded to get in.

Catina Carrier, who had known Whitaker since high school, wasn't there.

Her mother, Mary, pleaded that he not hurt anyone. Testimony at his trial showed he shot the woman in the shoulder, then ran upstairs where Shakeitha, known as Kiki, cried out Whitaker's name and said: "Please don't hurt me!" Then she was shot.

Court records show Whitaker went outside to an SUV - where the occupants included his estranged wife and their two young daughters - to reload his .45-caliber pistol. He returned to shoot Mary Carrier again at close range before leaving. She was able to call for help and found her daughters sitting against a wall in Kiki's bedroom.

Kiki died of a gunshot wound to the head. Five-year-old Ashley was left with brain damage after suffering severe head injuries from being pistol-whipped. Mary Carrier had permanent nerve damage and lost the use of her right hand from her wounds.

Whitaker was shot and wounded later by Harris County deputies trying to arrest him at an apartment where he was drinking beer with another girlfriend. Authorities said he had jumped from a window and was shot in the hip as he appeared to be reaching for a pistol.

Whitaker, a former mechanic, declined to speak with reporters as his execution date neared.

Catina Carrier testified at Whitaker's trial that she left him because he became abusive and often took the money she was making. At the time of the shootings, she was living in secret with a friend because she feared Whitaker.

Mary Carrier also testified against him at his trial. Another witness testified how she was abducted a few days before the shootings and forced at knifepoint to call Catina Carrier as Whitaker attempted to lure his ex-girlfriend to a meeting place. A previous girlfriend told jurors how he hit her on several occasions, once leaving her with a black eye.

Whitaker's mother testified his father was a strict disciplinarian, that her son never was violent in her presence and that Whitaker twice had tried to kill himself when he was 20. He had no previous prison record.

Whitaker's unsuccessful court appeals had contended his trial lawyer was ineffective in not calling a mental health expert to testify, that Harris County jurors who decided he should die should have been told a life sentence would have ensured him at least 40 years in prison, and that his death sentence was unconstitutional.

Three more Texas prisoners are set to die next week.

Source: The Associated Press.