R.I.P. Timothy Adams

Roman Colosseum lit to protest an execution

On February 22, 2011, Texas executed Timothy Adams for the 2002 murder of his 19-month-old son.  His attorneys had made a powerful case for clemency.  They argued that "Mr. Adams served honorably in the United States military and held steady employment. He took responsibility for his actions by pleading guilty at trial. He had no criminal history before his crime, and none after. In his eight years on death row, Mr. Adams had, without exaggeration, been a model prisoner."  Mr. Adams' family, "who also were victimized by Mr. Adams when, in a suicidal state, he caused them to lose a grandchild, nephew, and brother" were in favor of commutation to life without parole.  Adams' attorneys stated that "the execution of Mr. Adams has inflicted needless pain on the Adams family, without any benefit to the State of Texas" and the rejection of clemency "reflects that our society has abandoned its belief in the possibility of redemption and the virtue of mercy."  This is the eighth execution in the United States in 2011, the second in Texas.  Adams is the fifth African American to be executed this year.