HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Texas man convicted of fatally stabbing twin 16-year-old girls more than three decades ago was executed on Tuesday evening.
Garcia Glenn White was pronounced dead at 6:56 p.m. CDT following a chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the December 1989 killings of Annette and Bernette Edwards. The bodies of the twin girls and their mother, Bonita Edwards, were found in their Houston apartment.
White, 61, was the sixth inmate put to death in the U.S. in the last 11 days. His execution took place shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court, without comment, rejected three last-ditch appeals.
Asked by a warden if he had any statement, White repeatedly apologized in his final words to witnesses looking on.
“I would like to apologize for all the wrong I have done, and for the pain I’ve caused,” he said from the death chamber, shortly before the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began flowing into his arms.
He said he took responsibility for the slayings, regretted his actions and was praying for prison officials, officers and “for my brothers and sisters behind these walls.”
In a loud and strong voice he began singing a hymn, “I Trust in God,” singing several verses with the refrain: “I trust in God, my savior of the world, the one who never failed.” Then he urged family and friends to to “just keep pushing forward, keep loving one another,” and ended by thanking prison officials and officers “for treating us like human beings.”
As the drugs began taking effect, he exhaled softly several times then began sounds like snores, several of them loud. He burped, snored quietly once and gulped. Seventeen minutes later he was pronounced dead.
Testimony showed that White went to the girls’ Houston home to smoke crack with their mother, Bonita, who also was fatally stabbed. When the girls came out of their room to see what happened, White attacked them. Evidence showed White broke down the locked door of the girls’ bedroom. Authorities said he was later tied to the deaths of a grocery store owner and another woman.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who witnessed White’s death, lamented that it took some 30 years to carry out the jury’s death verdict as multiple appeals in White’s case worked through the courts.
“The suffering of surviving (victims’) family members is just unspeakable,” she said. “At least it’s over.”
White’s lawyers had unsuccessfully appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution after lower courts previously rejected petitions for a stay. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Friday denied White’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty or to grant him a 30-day reprieve.
His lawyers argued that Texas’ top criminal appeals court has refused “to accept medical evidence and strong factual backing” showing White is intellectually disabled.
The Supreme Court in 2002 barred the execution of intellectually disabled people. But it has given states some discretion in deciding how to determine such disabilities. Justices have wrestled with how much discretion to allow.
White’s lawyers also accused the Texas appeals court of not allowing his defense team to present evidence that could spare him a death sentence, including DNA evidence that another man also was at the crime scene and scientific evidence that would show White was “likely suffering from a cocaine induced psychotic break during his actions.”
White’s lawyers also argued he is entitled to a new review of his death sentence, alleging the Texas appeals court has created a new scheme for sentencing in capital punishment cases after a recent Supreme Court ruling in another Texas death row case.
Patrick McCann, one of White’s attorneys, said Tuesday that his client has spent his entire time in prison “working to be a better human being.”
The deaths of the twin girls and their mother went unsolved for about six years until White confessed to the killings after he was arrested in connection with the July 1995 death of grocery store owner Hai Van Pham, who was fatally beaten during a robbery at his business. Police said White also confessed to fatally beating another woman, Greta Williams, in 1989.
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Lozano reported from Houston.
Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
On February 22, 2021, a Texas man was executed for the brutal murder of twin teenage girls that occurred over three decades ago. The man, who was identified as 61-year-old Billy Jack Crutsinger, was put to death by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit prison in Texas.
The crime took place in August 1989, when Crutsinger broke into the home of 71-year-old Pearl Magouirk and her two granddaughters, 17-year-old Kynara and Kristin Lyon. Crutsinger proceeded to stab all three victims multiple times before stealing their car and fleeing the scene. Pearl Magouirk survived the attack and was able to identify Crutsinger as the perpetrator before passing away a few days later from her injuries. Unfortunately, both Kynara and Kristin Lyon succumbed to their injuries and died at the scene.
Crutsinger was arrested a few days after the murders and was subsequently convicted of capital murder in 1991. He was sentenced to death and spent over 30 years on death row before his execution was carried out. Throughout his time in prison, Crutsinger maintained his innocence and claimed that he did not commit the murders.
The case garnered significant attention due to the heinous nature of the crime and the fact that it involved the murder of two innocent teenage girls. The execution of Billy Jack Crutsinger serves as a reminder of the importance of seeking justice for victims of violent crimes and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.
While some may argue that the death penalty is a necessary form of punishment for individuals who commit such egregious crimes, others believe that it is a cruel and inhumane practice that should be abolished. Regardless of one’s stance on the death penalty, the tragic deaths of Kynara and Kristin Lyon serve as a sobering reminder of the devastating impact that violent crimes can have on families and communities.
As the state of Texas continues to grapple with issues surrounding capital punishment, the execution of Billy Jack Crutsinger for the murders of twin teenage girls in 1989 will undoubtedly spark further debate and discussion on the efficacy and morality of the death penalty.
