From Newsgroup: alt.obituaries

Ker'Sean Olajuwa Ramey, 41, was executed by lethal injection on 23
September 2026 in Huntsville, Texas for the robbery and murder of
three people in their home.

On Wednesday, 24 August 2005, Ramey, then 20, and LeJames Norman, 19,
stole masks from a discount store then went to the home of their
neighbor, Sam Roberts, in Edna in Jackson County. Their objective was
to steal a hundred kilograms of cocaine they believed to be inside.
They wrapped tape around their shoes so as not to leave a trail. They
donned their masks, cocked their handguns, and knocked on the door.
Celso Lopez, 38, answered. Norman and Ramey then forced their way
inside. Norman was carrying a .22-caliber pistol. He held it on Lopez
while Ramey went to the rear of the house to look for the cocaine.

While Ramey was gone, Norman shot Lopez in the cheek, purportedly by
accident. Ramey came back to the front and forced Lopez into a bedroom
and made him lie on the floor. Roberts, 24, then came home with his
girlfriend, Tiffani Peacock, 18. When Peacock saw what was happening,
she tried to run away. Norman grabbed her, forced her to her knees
inside the house, near the front door, and shot her in the back of the
head. Roberts then attacked Norman. They struggled in the kitchen
until Ramey shot Roberts. Norman then immediately shot Roberts several
more times while he lay on the floor. Ramey then went back to the
bedroom and shot Lopez in the back of the head as he lay on the floor.

Norman and Ramey then left the house. As they walked away, Norman
realized that he had left his police scanner inside. He went back in
to retrieve the scanner. While there, he shot each of the victims
several more times to ensure that they were dead. He and Ramey did not
find any cocaine.

Roberts's parents found the bodies the next day.

At Ramey's trial, Norman gave the account of the murders related
above. Additionally, Stacey Johnson testified that Ramey phoned her
before 1:00 a.m. on 25 August, went to her house, and slept there. Two
days later, she went with him to his house, where he dug up something
from his backyard. She then began driving him. While she was driving,
Ramey called his former stepfather, Lonny Lyte. Ramey asked Lyte, "If
you was to kill somebody, what would you do with the guns?" Lyte
responded that he would throw them in the river. Johnson then drove
Ramey to a dam. She watched him throw two pistols into the water.
Ramey then told Johnson that he had committed a murder. After they
returned to Johnson's house, Ramey told her about the murders in
detail and threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

Johnson went to the dam with police and showed them where Ramey threw
the pistols. A dive team recovered them. A firearms examiner testified
that the bullets that were recovered from the victims' bodies were
consistent with the pistols Ramey discarded at the dam.

The owner of the pistols was located. They had been stolen from his
residence on 19 August 2005, five days before the murders. Gerald
Manzanalez and Christopher Times testified that they and Ramey broke
into a residence and stole them on that date.

Lonny Lyte testified and corroborated Stacey Johnson's account of the
phone call Ramey had with him about throwing the murder weapons into
the river.

Cortney Hardaway, who was the mother of Ramey's two children,
testified that Ramey spoke with her at her parents' home on 25 August,
the night following the shootings. Ramey told Hardaway that he was
present in the Roberts home when the triple homicide was committed,
although he did not directly state that he killed anyone. He did,
however, threaten to kill her if she told anyone. He also asked her to
serve as his alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the murders.

A jury convicted Ramey of capital murder in January 2007 and sentenced
him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the
conviction and sentence in February 2009.

Norman was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. He was
executed on 16 September 2026.

In his appeals, Ramey's lawyers challenged the credentials and
expertise of the medical examiner who performed the autopsies on the
victims, the firearms examiner, and other expert witnesses who
testified at his trial. They also alleged that prosecutors improperly
excluded black jurors and accused his own attorney of providing an
inadequate defense. After reviewing the jury bias and inadequate
assistance of counsel claims, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
upheld Ramey's conviction. All of his subsequent appeals in state and
federal court were denied.

In a penpal request Ramey posted online in October 2007, Ramey wrote,
"I'm truly innocent and I have papers to prove it." Ramey wrote that
Norman admitted to committing the murders and admitted to lying about
his involvement.

When the warden asked Ramey if he wanted to make a last statement, he
answered, "Yes sir, first and foremost I want to give thanks to my
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." Ramey then thanked his family and
friends and apologized to his children for not being there for them.
He thanked his fellow inmates on Texas Death Row for showing him "what
it means to be a man, because I came in young, and didn't understand
what manhood was." Ramey mentioned several family members and friends
by name, then said, "I can't name everybody. I love you guys."

News coverage of Ramey's execution did not indicate whether any
witnesses attended on either party's behalf. No witnesses for the
victims attended Norman's execution last week.

After Ramey finished his statement, he told the warden he was ready.
The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:34
p.m.

David Carson
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents,
Associated Press, deathrow-usa.com.
--
Texas Execution Information
www.txexecutions.org
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