Steven Michael Woods, Jr. was an American who was executed by lethal injection in the state of Texas died from lethal injection he was 31.(April 17, 1980 - September 13, 2011)
Woods was sentenced to the death penalty after a jury convicted him of the capital murders of drug dealer Ronald Whitehead, 21, and Bethena Brosz, 19, on May 2, 2001 in The Colony, Texas.[3] Woods petitioned to media outlets for prisoner rights in February 2004.[4]
In late 2006, Woods was part of a hunger strike in the Polunsky unit in West Livingston, Texas, to oppose death row inmates' treatment.[5]Woods' co-defendant, Marcus Rhodes, pled guilty to shooting both victims to death with a firearm in the same criminal transaction and received a life sentence. During the trial it was revealed that authorities had recovered backpacks belonging to the slain pair along with shell casings and a bloodied knife in Rhodes' car. Guns used in the slayings were also recovered from the home of Rhodes' parents.[6]
However, in Texas, the Law of Parties states that a person can be criminally responsible for the actions of another if he or she aids and abets, conspires with the principal or anticipates the crime. Although Rhodes pled guilty to the murders and Woods' did not, and there was no physical evidence tying Woods to the scene, Woods was executed for the crime.[7] Witnesses testified at Woods' 2002 trial that he and Rhodes said that they lured Whitehead to an isolated road on the pretense of a drug deal and that Woods shot and killed him, because Whitehead knew about a killing two months earlier in California. Rhodes was later found guilty of the California murder and Woods was not. Prosecutors said Brosz was merely driving her boyfriend Ron to the drug deal. Brosz had been killed because she witnessed Whitehead's death, yelled and then attempted to flee.[2]
Fairness of Sentencing/Conviction Dispute
The fairness of Woods' case and punishment was criticized by Noam Chomsky[8] and Amnesty International.[9] Woods' criminal case was reported locally and internationally. Woods' final motion for a stay was denied on September 2, 2011.[13]Execution
In his last words, Woods stated, "You're not about to witness an execution, you are about to witness a murder. I am strapped down for something Marcus Rhodes did. I never killed anybody, never. I love you, Mom. I love you, Tali. This is wrong. This whole thing is wrong. I can't believe you are going to let Marcus Rhodes walk around free. Justice has let me down. Alex Calhoun completely screwed this up. I love you too, Mom. Well Warden, if you are going to murder someone, go ahead and do it. Pull the trigger. It's coming. I can feel it coming. Goodbye everyone, I love you".[14] then took several deep breaths before all movement stopped.[2] A needle carrying the lethal drugs on his right arm pierced a green tattoo of a rose branch. The distinctive tattoo had identified him when he was arrested. Woods was pronounced dead on September 13, 2011 at 6:22pm.[15] Woods' was the 10th execution carried out in Texas in 2011[16] and the 474th since Texas resumed the death penalty in 1982.To see more of who died in 2011 click here
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