Man Executed In USA Over Murder

Texas has executed the second of two men who carried out a merciless triple murder more than 20 years ago in a small Texas city on the Gulf Coast.

The state executed Ker'Sean Ramey, 41, by lethal injection on Wednesday, Sept. 23, making him the sixth inmate put to death in the state this year and the 28th in the U.S. He was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. CT.

A jury convicted Ramey of capital murder in the 2005 shooting deaths of three of his neighbors, including an 18-year-old woman just getting started in life. Ramey's execution comes a week after Texas executed the other man convicted of the triple murder, LeJames Norman.

Ramey's attorneys have argued for years that executing him is unjust and that he never got a fair trial because of racial bias. Prosecutors were able to eliminate any Black people from being on the jury, which found Ramey guilty after an hour of deliberations and took just 15 minutes to discuss whether he should be sentenced to death, according to court records.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected those arguments this week, finding that Ramey failed to show that he deserved a reprieve.

Meanwhile the sister of the 18-year-old murder victim in the case said that she just wants her loved one to be remembered for more than just the way she died

"She was a daughter, a sister, a friend, and someone deeply loved," Tabatha Hastings said. "Her life mattered before it ever became part of a court case, and it still matters today."

Here's what else you need to know about the case and who Peacock was.

What happened tragic night of triple murder?

On Aug. 24, 2005, Ker’Sean Ramey and LeJames Norman were looking to score some cocaine and decided to rob their neighbor, 38-year-old Celso Lopez. Ramey and Norman forced their way into Lopez's home and held him at gunpoint as they looked for drugs they never found, according to court records. At some point Norman shot Lopez, though he claimed it was an accident.

Lopez’s roommates, 18-year-old Tiffani Peacock and 24-year-old Sam Roberts, walked in on the scene. The two had been dating.

“Norman forced Peacock to her knees and shot her in the head,” court records say. Roberts tried to flee but both Norman and Ramey shot him. Ramey shot all three victims several more times to make sure they were dead, court records say.

“It was an execution,” prosecutor Eli Garza said during Ramey's 2007 trial, according to an archived story in the Victoria Advocate.

Both Norman and Ramey were convicted of the murders and sentenced to death. Texas executed Norman by lethal injection on Sept. 16, one week before Ramey's execution.

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Attorneys detail alleged jury bias in case

Ramey's attorneys have been focusing their arguments for a reprieve on the fact that his jury consisted of 11 White people and one Latino, even though there were many potential Black jurors. The state's wrangling is responsible for the elimination of at least nine Black jurors during the month-long process ahead of the 2006 trial, according to court records.

At one point, prosecutors asked one potential Black juror named Cheryl Steadham-Scott about whether she thought various famous Black people were guilty or innocent of crimes for which they had been charged, court records say.

An appellate court rejected arguments that the jury selection process was biased, crediting the state's reason for eliminating Steadham-Scott. Prosecutors said they struck her from the jury "because of her inconclusive opinions on the death penalty and not her identity as an African–American,” court records say.

Ramey's conviction was based largely on testimony, including from Norman, since no DNA evidence linked him to the crime scene and a firearm examiner was unable to determine whether bullets recovered from the victims matched the suspected murder weapons, court records say.

Who was Tiffani Peacock?

At just 18 years old, Peacock was on the cusp of starting college and dreamed of trying out for "American Idol,"

"Her whole life was still ahead of her," Hastings said. “We always believed she would have done incredibly well if she had gotten that chance."

The sisters loved going to dance halls, listening to their favorite songs and singing karaoke together. Hastings still remembers so many little things that Peacock would do to show her love.

"She would iron my clothes, help me fix my hair," Hastings said. "Those small memories mean so much now because they show how caring she was and the kind of sister she was to me."

Peacock also cared deeply about animals and was so good with them, that her family called her "an animal whisperer," Hastings said.

When her sister was killed, Hastings said that Peacock had just graduated from high school and was planning to attend a nearby community college in the fall, and then work her way toward Texas A&M to become a veterinarian.

The executions of her sister's killers have dredged up old wounds and memories. She said that she believes in "accountability and justice" for Peacock's murder but that she doesn't view an execution as "something to celebrate."

Hastings chose not to be among the witnesses to either execution and instead has focused on honoring her sister's life.

"What I hope people remember is not simply how Tiffani died, but how she lived and who she was," Hastings said. "We believe her life had purpose, that she was deeply loved by God, and that one day we will see her again."