Adam Kelly Ward

Allan B. Polunsky Unit houses the State of Texas death row for men.
Huntsville Unit, where Ward was put to death

Adam Kelly Ward (August 11, 1982[1] – March 22, 2016[2]) was a convicted murderer executed by the State of Texas by lethal injection.[3]

Murder

On June 13, 2005,[1] Adam Ward encountered Michael Walker, a code enforcement officer, taking photographs of Ward's home in Commerce, Texas.[4]

Ward was washing a car at the time, and he began confronting Walker. Ward's father, Dr. Ralph Ward, advised Walker to leave the area. Walker went back to the truck and called the police, but Ward approached him and shot him nine times.[5] Walker was 44 years old at the time of his death.[1] Walker's father, Dick Walker, was serving with the Commerce Emergency Corps and arrived on the scene shortly before his son died.[6]

Prosecutors stated that Ward's father instilled paranoia in his son against governmental institutions in the Commerce area, including the city government, the Commerce Independent School District, and the Commerce Police Department.[6] Ralph Ward had previously been involved in a public feud with Commerce ISD over the education methods used to teach his son and he sometimes appeared at Adam Ward's schools without prior announcement.[7] There was a history of confrontations between Walker and the Wards, and Adam Ward said that he felt afraid for his safety. At the time Walker was unarmed.[5]

Aftermath

Ward was charged with murder in obstruction/retaliation, making him eligible for the death penalty.[8]

While a pretrial inmate Ward was held in the Hunt County Jail. Ward's capital murder trial began in June 2007 under District Attorney F. Duncan Thomas.[6] Ward's lawyers argued that he was mentally ill; however he was convicted and sentenced to death.[9]

Ward, Texas Department of Criminal Justice(TDCJ) 999525, was held on men's death row at the Polunsky Unit near Livingston, Texas.[1] He was executed on March 22, 2016 at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas.[2] A spiritual adviser and three friends of Adam Ward attended his execution; Ward's parents did not attend.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Ward, Adam Kelly", Texas Department of Criminal Justice; retrieved March 31, 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Last Wards Adam Kelly Ward", Texas Department of Criminal Justice; retrieved March 31, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Texas man executed for killing city code enforcement worker", Daily Mail, March 22, 2016; retrieved March 31, 2016.
  4. ↑ Slayton, Ashley M. and Julia Jenaé. "Execution date set for Texas death row inmate", kltv.com, November 4, 2015; accessed March 31, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Hoffberger, Chase. "Death Watch: A Question of Premeditation", Austin Chronicle; retrieved March 31, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 Kellar, Brad. "Adam Ward capital murder trial starts", Commerce Journal; retrieved March 31, 2016.
  7. ↑ Kellar, Brad. "Dad claims son no longer suffers from outbursts", Herald-Banner, June 21, 2007; retrieved March 31, 2016.
  8. 1 2 McCullough, Jolie. "Texas Executes Man Courts Recognized as Mentally Ill", Texas Tribune, March 22, 2016; retrieved April 1, 2016.
  9. ↑ Lowery, Wesley. ""Mentally ill Texas man convicted of murder becomes ninth person executed in U.S. this year", Washington Post, March 23, 2016; retrieved April 1, 2016.

External links

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