Alabama execution set for Thursday. Convict's poignant words
30 years after killing a friend's father during a robbery, an American inmate is scheduled to receive a lethal injection in an Alabama state prison on Thursday. Prior to his execution, he warns young people to refrain from making grave life mistakes.
12:27 PM EST, November 16, 2023
Casey McWhorter, 49, is set to be executed on Thursday in Atmore, Alabama. McWhorter, in February 1993, murdered 34-year-old Edward Lee Williams.
The crime was committed just three months after McWhorter's 18th birthday. Alongside him were two younger teenagers, including his victim's 15-year-old son, who had planned the robbery together with him.
Their target was the household of the Williams family. The adolescents aimed to rob money and other valuables, and had even contemplated murdering the father of the family.
The boys manufactured homemade silencers. Armed with bladed weapons, two of them invaded their friend's house and based on his insider tips, ransacked hidden stashes and drawers. Upon the return of the 34-year-old Williams and his interruption of their criminal activities, a heated altercation ensued. McWhorter fired the first shot, and the man was shot 11 times in total.
The teenagers' actions drew heavy criticism. The younger offenders - the victim's son, Edward Lee Williams Jr., and 16-year-old Daniel Miner - received life sentences, while McWhorter was given the death penalty. 10 of the 12 jurors corroborated this version of events.
1993 crime fetches death sentence, Alabama state to proceed with execution
"I was profoundly lost as a child. I had problems that I didn't know how to handle. I felt that the only way to feel accepted was to partake in these regrettable acts. I considered myself a part of a family with these boys," McWhorter confided in a phone conversation with the Associated Press a few days before his scheduled execution.
He was composed during the call and he confessed to firing the first shot, albeit not being the only shooter.
The United States Supreme Court decreed in 2005 that people who committed crimes before they turned 18 cannot be executed. Lawyers representing McWhorter contended that Alabaman state law does not categorize a teenager as a full-fledged adult until the age of 19.
Nevertheless, these arguments did not sway the jury. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office urged the Supreme Court to sanction the execution. In their plea to the court, the state maintained that the law unambiguously states that the death penalty can be meted out to criminals who are at least 18 years old.
The prosecution emphasized that the crime was preconceived and McWhorter, after the murder, collected valuables from the house undisturbed, which included removing Williams' wallet from his corpse and taking off with his pick-up truck.
McWhorter expounded on his regret to the Associated Press, pleading with young people to deliberate before making a life-altering mistake like he did. "A single poor choice, one regrettable oversight, a solitary bad decision can forever alter your life and that of those you care about," he cautioned.
