R.I.P. Beunka Adams

Roman Colosseum lit to protest an execution

On April 26, 2012, Texas executed Beunka Adams for the murder of Kenneth Vandever during a convenience store robbery.  Two women working at the store were shot but survived.  Adams was 19 at the time.  His accomplice, Richard Cobb, who was 18, was sentenced to death after a separate trial.

Legal challenges included a claim that Adams' trial counsel unreasonably failed to present evidence of Cobb's confession to shooting Vandever.  A federal district court had issued a stay of execution to consider claims that his trial and appellate lawyers provided ineffective assistance with regard to several issues.  The stay was lifted  by the federal appellate court and the Supreme Court refused to intervene.

This is the 17th execution in the United States this year, and the fifth in Texas.