Texas | Man ordered final death row meal so controversial that no one gets one anymore

AI rendering of Lawrence Russell Brewer's last meal

As well as listing off five people we wouldn't mind getting stuck in a lift with if it ever came to it, we've all debated what we would have for our last ever meal on Earth.

These imaginary scenarios help us kill a bit of time during long journeys, or can reignite the conversation if it gets a bit stale.

But for death row inmates, fantasising about their final feast isn't just a fun and fictitious pastime - it's something they actually have to decide on before they face their fate.

Unless they are locked up in Texas, that is, as the US state no longer offers prisoners this privilege thanks to the actions of one convict 14 years ago.

Because of Lawrence Russell Brewer's brazen behaviour ahead of his execution in September 2011, death row inmates who are incarcerated in Texas no longer get to leave this world with a belly full of their favourite food.

Now, it's more of a case of them getting what they're given. Nice one, Brewer.

Who was Lawrence Russell Brewer?

Apart from being the bloke who tanked the 87-year tradition of inmates deciding on their final dinner, Lawrence Russell Brewer is also a convicted murderer.

The 44-year-old was a white supremacist who, alongside accomplices John King and Shawn Berry, was convicted for the appalling racially-motivated murder of James Byrd Jr, 49, in June 1998.

Brewer and King became the first white men to receive the death penalty for killing a black man in modern Texas after their conviction, and their atrocities prompted the state to introduce new laws surrounding hate crimes.

Berry was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Brewer spent the 12-years behind bars awaiting his execution.

What was his order?

On 21 September, 2011, Brewer was executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville.

The day before he was put to death, he did not express any remorse for James' murder and chillingly told KHOU 11 News: "As far as any regrets, no, I have no regrets. No, I'd do it all over again, to tell you the truth."

Photo: Last Suppers: A series of photographs documenting former Death Row prisoners' requests for their last meal before execution, by James Reynolds

Although you might not think he deserved it, Brewer was able to request a range of items for his final meal, like every other death row prisoner in Texas was able to up until 2011.

The murderer didn't hold back, making a mammoth order which included a bowl of fried okra with ketchup, two chicken steaks with gravy and onions, and a cheese omelette with ground beef, jalapenos and bell peppers.

But he didn't stop there, according to a report from the time published in the Houston Chronicle.

On top of that, Brewer also wanted a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, three fajitas, one pound of barbecue and a half loaf of white bread, pizza meat lover's special, one pint of 'homemade vanilla' Blue Bell ice cream, one slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts, and three root beers.

Why was it so controversial?

Brewer's decadent banquet arrived at the prison at around 4pm on the day of his execution. But when it was placed in front of him, he refused to eat any of it - saying he was not hungry.

So, his huge order was instead chucked into the bin, which left prison officials with a bad taste in their mouth, to say the least.

Texas senator John Whitmire really didn't take the huge waste lightly - and he urged state prison officials to end the nearly 90-year-old tradition of offering a last meal choice to condemned inmates.

The Democrat, who is now Houston's mayor, believed that it was 'inappropriate' to allow death row prisoners to tantalise their tastebuds before facing the music for their crimes.

"Enough is enough," Whitmire said at the time. "It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege. It's a privilege which the perpetrator did not provide to their victim."

The executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Brad Livingston, agreed and the tradition was then abolished.

What do Texas inmates now get given?

Since 2011, death row inmates in Texas have been dreaming of being able to decadent order comparable to Brewer's.

Photo: Last Suppers: A series of photographs documenting former Death Row prisoners' requests for their last meal before execution, by James Reynolds

Sadly, he spoiled it for everyone else - however, prisoners in the state do still get fed before their execution.

But now, a con will simply receive whatever is being served in the prison that day for their final ever meal, rather than the grub they've been dreaming of throughout their sentence.

What did officials say at the time?

Senator Whitmire had plenty to say about scrapping the tradition, as he explained that he wanted to make it clear to those on death row that they aren't the ones who hold the cards.

"[Brewer's] a bad person and it might very well be as simple as he was just trying to show us... he would just show us that we couldn't control things right up to the end," he told news channel KXAN in 2011.

"Why didn't someone use some judgment and put that to a stop? Can you imagine the victim's family - who were there to witness the execution - knowing that this killer of their brother was getting these kind of special treatments? It's just wrong and it will - it has - ended."

Whitmire also explained that it wasn't the cost of catering to the inmates requests which prompted the decision - it was simply a matter of principle.

The 75-year-old said, as per the New York Times: "He never gave his victim an opportunity for a last meal.

"Why in the world are you going to treat him like a celebrity two hours before you execute him? It’s wrong to treat a vicious murderer in this fashion. Let him eat the same meal on the chow line as the others."

NB: The views and opinions expressed in the above piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of DPN.

Source: ladbible.com, Joe Harker, June 1, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

Comments

Texas death row prisoner dies after more than 30 years behind bars

A Houston-area man convicted of killing his wife died this week after more than 3 decades on death row, marking the 2nd condemned prisoner to die behind bars in the past month. Prison officials confirmed that William "Billy the Kid" Mason was taken to the hospital on Wednesday and died of cardiac arrest Friday morning. The 71-year-old was originally sent to death row in 1992, after prosecutors said he'd kidnapped his wife and beaten her to death under a bridge because she was playing the radio too loudly. According to court records, her body was found several days later under some logs near the San Jacinto River.

Louisiana | Mother calls for man exonerated of raping and murdering her child to go free

Wrongful convictions by 2 discredited Mississippi experts tops at least 10. A victim’s family in Louisiana is now speaking out. Prosecutors fighting the release of death row inmate Jimmie Duncan after a judge found him “factually innocent” of raping and murdering 23-month-old Haley Oliveaux are “not speaking for Haley’s family,” her mother says. Speaking publicly for the 1st time, Allison Layton Statham called for Duncan to go free in a July 22 bail hearing. “This innocent man is on death row,” she told Mississippi Today. “Justice needs to be done.” In April, a judge threw out Duncan’s conviction, questioning their conclusions and citing the failures of his court-appointed counsel.

Alabama Gov. sets execution date for Geoffrey Todd West

Ivey sets execution for Geoffrey Todd West for 1997 murder at Alabama convenience store ATTALLA, Ala. – A man convicted of killing a convenience store clerk during a 1997 robbery in Attalla is now scheduled to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia later this year, nearly three decades after the crime shook Attalla and Etowah County.

Tennessee death row inmate makes last-ditch effort to prevent Aug. 5 execution

Attorneys for a Tennessee death row inmate have launched a last-ditch effort to prevent his Aug. 5 execution. In Nashville 's Chancery Court, they are asking a judge to require the Tennessee Department of Correction to deactivate an implanted defibrillation device similar to a pacemaker in the moments before Byron Black 's execution. If the judge rules in their favor, such an order could potentially delay the execution until the state finds someone willing to do the deactivation.

Inside a Mississippi execution: Clarion Ledger reporter recounts what it was like

The visitation center at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman has no windows, just fluorescent lighting, plastic chairs and tables in a cafeteria-style room. I could technically step outside, but only through a single entrance and doing so meant going through the full security screening all over again — it didn’t feel worth it. A few friendly prison staff walked around, quietly watching us. The Wi-Fi cut in and out. All the while, I returned to the thought I was there to watch someone die.

Inside Japan's secretive execution jails where death row inmates are given minutes notice before facing the noose

From the outside, the Tokyo Detention House looks much like the other tall, austere buildings native to Katsushika City, but its drab facade and tree-lined grounds conceal a far more sinister reality. It is here that Japan's most deplorable criminals are plucked from their cells and hanged underneath fluorescent lights in a cold, bare wood-panelled room. There is a chillingly theatrical element to how the condemned are executed in the East Asian country - the only member of the G7 besides the US that still metes out capital punishment. Shackled prisoners are led past a small gold statue of Kannon, a Buddhist figure associated with compassion, as they enter their sterile execution chamber.

Journalists Reflect on the Challenges and Importance of Media Reporting on the Death Penalty

In this month’s podcast episode of 12:01 The Death Penalty in Context, DPIC’s Managing Director Anne Holsinger speaks with Sam Levin, a correspondent with The Guardian who covers criminal justice and the legal system, and Jimmy Jenkins, a criminal justice reporter for The Arizona Republic , about the challenges they encounter when reporting on the increasing secretive use of the death penalty. Mr. Jenkins has witnessed executions in Arizona and Mr. Levin has recently investigated South Carolina’s return to executions after a 13-year pause.

Japan executes 'Twitter killer' who murdered nine in 2017

TOKYO — Japan on Friday executed a man dubbed the "Twitter killer" who murdered and dismembered nine people he met online, in the nation's first enactment of the death penalty since 2022. Takahiro Shiraishi, 34, was hanged for killing his young victims, all but one of whom were women, after contacting them on the social media platform now called X. He had targeted users who posted about taking their own lives, telling them he could help them in their plans, or even die alongside them. Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said Shiraishi's crimes, carried out in 2017, included "robbery, rape, murder... destruction of a corpse and abandonment of a corpse".

Woman who watched nearly 300 executions explained moment she had to give it up

Michelle Lyons' job wasn't for the fainthearted A woman who watched nearly 300 death row executions take place over 12 years opened up about how her macabre career impacted her life. For more than a decade, it was part of Michelle Lyons' job description to observe the final moments of hundreds of prisoners in the US state of Texas. She says the process never 'become mundane or normal', although she did become acclimatized to it - as she went on to watch so many executions that she 'can't recall' a lot of them.

New execution methods may soon come to Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Next month, the state of Florida will officially be allowed to use new means of executing prisoners on death row — with some caveats. That’s because of a state law (HB 903) that’s set to take effect on July 1, alongside over 120 others. The law actually makes a variety of technical changes to different issues, including prepayment of court costs, statutes of limitations on prisoner lawsuits, and location tracking for inmates. However, one of the more prominent issues tackled by the law is the death penalty. Under prior law, a death sentence carried out in Florida had to be performed via either electrocution or lethal injection. The choice of which was left up to the prisoner being executed.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog