A Texas man convicted of killing three people in their apartment while searching for drugs to steal 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. He was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CDT, The Associated Press reported.
Inside the execution chamber, a prison chaplain placed a hand on Ramey’s shoulder and led him in a brief prayer. The warden then asked whether he had any final words, according to the AP.
Ramey praised God and expressed gratitude to his friends, family members and fellow death row inmates, 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 drew a deep breath, sputtered and began snoring. He took 10 loud snores followed by two that were barely audible before becoming still.
He was pronounced dead 14 minutes after the injection was administered.
Ramey was the sixth inmate executed in Texas this year. The state is scheduled to carry out three additional lethal injections during the next two months.
Ramey 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 killings occurred at the home the three shared in Edna, a small rural city about 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, LeJames Norman lived across the street from the victims’ home. He and Ramey came to believe that cocaine was inside the house.
On Aug. 24, 2005, the two men walked to the residence wearing masks and knocked on the door. When Lopez answered, they forced their way inside, court records show.
After failing to find drugs, the men shot Lopez. They later killed Peacock and Roberts when the two arrived at the house. Court documents say Ramey returned before the pair finally fled and shot the victims again to make certain they were dead.
Norman was executed Sept. 16 at the Huntsville prison, where all executions in Texas are carried out.
The Huntsville Unit prison is seen in Huntsville, Texas, on Sept. 14, 2024. (Francois Picard/AFP)
Hours before Ramey’s execution, the Supreme Court rejected his final appeal. His attorneys argued that jurors had not heard mitigating evidence about his childhood, including claims that he suffered physical abuse and grew up 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 behavior.
Norman was arrested about five months after the murders while trying to re-enter the United States from Mexico, where he had fled. During Ramey’s trial in January 2007, Norman testified that both men participated in the shootings. Ramey’s attorneys, however, argued 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.
