Alabama executes Casey McWhorter for 1993 slaying
ATMORE ‒ Casey A. McWhorter spent most of his adult life on Alabama’s death row. Thursday night he died there.
The state of Alabama executed McWhorter, 49, by lethal injection in the death chamber of the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. He was convicted of capital murder in 1994 in connection with a 1993 Marshall County robbery and homicide. He went to death row when he was 19. He had been 18 three months earlier, when the murder was committed.
The drapes of the media witness room opened at 6:30 p.m. McWhorter was lying in a bed partially covered by a tightly drawn white sheet. His head and torso were slightly elevated. He was lying cruciform, with both arms facing palm up. Restraints for his body were on top of the sheet. Two IV lines came from a small window in the back wall of the death chamber. One appeared to enter his right arm near the inside of his elbow, and the other appeared to enter his left arm at the inside of his left elbow.
Warden Terry Raybon read the death warrant and governor’s order of execution. McWhorter was given the opportunity to say last words.
“I would like to say to my mother and family that I love them,” he said. “To the victim’s family, I’m sorry and I hope they find peace. I am aware that a habitual abuser of women is carrying out this procedure.”
At 6:33 p.m. McWhorter closed his eyes. A minute later he shifted his legs, clenched his fists and moved his fingers.
He was approached by his spiritual advisor.
At 6:35 p.m. he was moving his fingers. And at 6:37 p.m. he raised his head, made a yawning motion, appeared to gasp and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. At 6:39 p.m. he appeared to stop breathing.
His spiritual advisor made the sign of the cross.
A few minutes after a corrections officer inside the death chamber bent to McWhorter’s ear and loudly called his name, the officer then touched his face and pinched the inside of his right arm.
At 6:47 p.m. the drapes to the media witness room were drawn.
McWhorter’s official time of death was given as 6:56 p.m.
After the execution, a news conference was held inside the media center.
It took two “sticks” to access McWhorter’s veins, one to his right arm and one to his left arm, said John Hamm, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Corrections. He read a lengthy letter from April Williams, the daughter of Edward Lee Williams, the victim of the homicide.
She was 16 when her father was murdered.
“My Dad was only 33 years old. He should still be here,” the letter read, in part. “He should be ready to retire.”
Gilbert “Bert” Williams, Edward Lee Williams’ brother, addressed the media.
“It took 30 years for this to occur. It’s a kind of unfortunate that we had to wait this long, but justice has been served,” he said.
Gilbert Williams compared McWhorter’s execution to “…the peaceful death to a murderous dog.”
There are three witness rooms in the death chamber, which is attached to the building that houses death row. One witness room is for the victim’s family, one is for the media and the inmate‘s witnesses, and one is for state officials. McWhorter had no witnesses.
The media witness room is about 10-feet-by-20 feet and smelled of antiseptic. There are 13 chairs in the media witness room. Five members of the media witnessed the execution.
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“Edward Lee Williams’ life was taken away from him at the hands of Casey A. McWhorter, and tonight, Mr. McWhorter answered for his actions," Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement after the execution. "In February 1993 in Marshall County, Mr. McWhorter joined two others in ambushing and shooting to death Mr. Williams. After Mr. Williams was struck at least 11 times with .22 caliber rifles, each with makeshift silencers, Mr. McWhorter fired at least one round into Mr. Williams’ head to assure his death.
“Despite the fact that Mr. McWhorter managed to delay his date with justice for over three decades, his guilt of Mr. Williams’ premeditated robbery and murder was never in question. In Alabama, we uphold the rule of law and hold accountable those who take the lives of others. Casey McWhorter has finally paid for his heinous crime.”
Earlier Thursday, McWhorter received visits from his spiritual advisor Jeffery Hood, his stepfather Marshall Bearden and his mother Carolyn Rowland. He took phone calls from attorney Ben Rosenburg and friends Esther Brown and Lisa Clark.
He was seen drinking peach Sunkist and refused his breakfast and lunch tray. His final meal was Turtles candy. There were no witnesses to his execution.
In an interview with the Associated Press days before his execution, McWhorter said that he is “concerned about family and friends and loved ones, how they’re dealing with things.”
He also said he would encourage young people who are going through difficult times to take a moment before making a life-altering mistake like he did.
“Anything that comes across them that just doesn’t sit well at first, take a few seconds to think that through,” he said. “Because one bad choice, one stupid mistake, one dumb decision can alter your life — and those that you care about — forever.”
The murder
McWhorter, 49, was convicted of capital murder in the 1993 robbery and slaying of Edward Lee Williams in Marshall County. McWhorter had turned 18 three months before the crime. He and two juvenile co-defendants, a 16-year-old and the 15-year-old son of the victim, had planned to rob and murder Williams in his home.
Court records and testimony shows that McWhorter and the 16-year-old went to Williams’ home armed with rifles and two home-made silencers, one made fashioned from a pillow and the other a milk jug filled with napkins. The teens shot Williams 11 times.
McWhorter was convicted and the jury recommended the death penalty by a 10-2 vote, records show.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama executes Casey McWhorter for 1993 slaying
