Summary:

On Feb. 25, 1994, at 10 p.m., Calvin King and friends met at Room 38 of the Cedar Sands Motel in Beaumont, Texas, which had been rented earlier in the day by King.

They spent the evening smoking crack cocaine in the room. King was also selling and buying crack throughout the course of the evening.

Billy Wayne Ezell came to the room several times to sell crack to the occupants. Just before dawn, Ezell went to another room in the hotel.

King then knocked on the door and asked Ezell to come upstairs. Ezell left Goodwin's room for Room 38.

Ezell's body was discovered the next morning in Room 38 covered with a blanket and nude from the waist down. The room was in disarray.

Ezell had sustained 37 major stab wounds and had extensive damage to the head caused by a blunt object, described as "overkill" by the pathologist.

The next morning, King arrived home with a roll of bloody money. King then set about washing the blood off of the money and drying it in the oven.

King made admissions to friends present that "I done kill and I'll kill again." "I'm the one kill him (sic). I'm the one that hit him over the head with a lamp, put a cord around his neck and slice (sic) his throat."

Accomplice Leonard Johnson pled guilty and received a life prison term. In 1989, King was convicted of burglary of a habitation and sentenced as an habitual offender to 25 years imprisonment. He was released after serving 4 years.

Final Meal:

Half of a fried chicken (cooked in garlic powder and red pepper), French fries, one Dr. Pepper, and hot sauce

MEDIA ADVISORY

Monday, Sept. 23, 2002

Calvin King Scheduled to be Executed.

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on Calvin King, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2002.

On June 23, 1995, Calvin King was sentenced to death for the capital murder of 21-year-old Billy Wayne Ezell, while in the course of committing or attempting to commit robbery, which occurred in Beaumont, Texas, on Feb. 25, 1994.

A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows:

FACTS OF THE CRIME

On Feb. 25, 1994, at 10 p.m., Calvin King, Leonard Johnson, Danyell Williams (King's girlfriend), and Carlette Gibbs met at Room 38 of the Cedar Sands Motel in Beaumont, Texas, which had been rented earlier in the day by King.

King, Johnson, Williams, and Gibbs, who was pregnant at the time, spent the evening smoking crack cocaine in the room. King was also selling and buying crack throughout the course of the evening.

After being called by either Johnson or King, Billy Wayne Ezell came to the room several times to sell crack to the occupants. Ezell took Johnson to the store to buy beer and cigarettes and then returned to the room to sell the group crack.

When Ezell came to the room, he took a large roll of money out of his pocket, which was seen by everyone in the room. Ezell then sold King $60 worth of crack and left.

King and Johnson sent Williams and Gibbs home in a cab at about 4 a.m., telling them that they were going to sell the crack they had just bought and that the women needed to leave.

Kenneth Goodwin and Angelita Williams, friends of Ezell's, were staying in Room 26 of the Cedar Sands Motel, below and adjacent to Room 38. Goodwin was also a friend of Johnson and Gibbs, and he knew King. Just before dawn, Ezell went to Goodwin's room. King then knocked on the door and asked Ezell to come upstairs. Ezell left Goodwin's room for Room 38.

Some time later, Goodwin noticed that Ezell's car was still in the parking lot and he was curious why Ezell would still be there.

Ezell's girlfriend called Goodwin's room about the same time, asking Goodwin to tell Ezell to come home. Goodwin called Ezell's pager, and after receiving no response, Goodwin went to Room 38 and knocked on the door, but no one responded.

Goodwin went back downstairs and saw a woman from the front office checking the rooms, walking in the direction of Room 38. After returning to his room, Goodwin told Angelita that no one had responded in Room 38.

Ezell's body was found in Room 38 lying face down, partially covered with a blanket and nude from the waist down. A broken lamp lay next to him, and the cord from the lamp was wrapped around his neck.

The room was in disarray, as though a fight had occurred. Ezell had sustained multiple blunt force injuries to both sides of his head, and stabbing and cutting wounds to his head, face, throat, chest, and back, two of which severed his internal jugular vein and pulmonary artery. His diaphragm was also punctured. Additionally, both of his arms and hands had numerous defensive wounds.

In all, Ezell suffered 37 major stab wounds and sustained extensive damage to the head caused by a blunt object. With regard to the quantity and severity of the injuries, Dr. Elizabeth Peacock, who performed the autopsy on Ezell, stated that "this is a case that we would commonly refer to as overkill."

When King and Johnson arrived at the home of Williams and Gibbs that morning, King had blood on his shirt. King, although not injured, appeared to have been in a fight, but Johnson did not. After smoking crack with Williams, King and Johnson produced a roll of money covered in blood.

King then set about washing the blood off of the money and drying it in the oven. Johnson woke up Gibbs, crying and telling her he "didn't do it." Gibbs then went upstairs and observed that King was in possession of a large amount of crack and that there was "money everywhere" drying.

According to Billy Hickman, who also lived in the house with Danyell Williams, King and Johnson were watching a news report about the killing at the Cedar Sands, and King stated, "I done kill and I'll kill again." Later, King told Gibbs that he had killed Ezell, stating, "I'm the one kill him (sic). I'm the one that hit him over the head with a lamp, put a cord around his neck and slice (sic) his throat."

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On March 31, 1994, King was indicted in the Criminal District Court of Jefferson County, Texas, for the capital offense of murdering Billy Wayne Ezell while in the course of committing and attempting to commit robbery.

After King pleaded not guilty, a jury found him guilty of the capital offense on June 22, 1995. On June 23, 1995, after a separate punishment hearing, the court assessed King's punishment at death.

King's conviction and sentence were automatically appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed in a published opinion on Sept. 24, 1997. King did not petition the Supreme Court of the United States for writ of certiorari.

King then filed a state application for writ of habeas corpus in the trial court on March 16, 1998. The trial court subsequently entered findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that King's application be denied. The Court of Criminal Appeals adopted the findings and conclusions of the trial court and denied the application in an unpublished order on Feb. 17, 1999.

King then filed a federal habeas petition in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Texarkana Division, on Oct. 15, 1999.

The federal district court denied habeas relief on Feb. 6, 2001, and denied King permission to appeal on May 11, 2001.

King then sought permission to appeal from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. That court denied King permission to appeal on Feb. 26, 2002.

King subsequently petitioned the United States Supreme Court for certiorari review. The petition is currently pending before the Court.

PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY

During trial, the State proved that King had three prior convictions for theft and one for burglary of a habitation, all in Dallas County, Texas.

On April 2, 1982, King received probation for his first theft offense.

On July 30, 1982, King was convicted of his second theft offense, his probation was revoked, and he was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment.

Following his release on parole, King was convicted of his third theft offense and, on Aug. 20, 1986, was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment.

Calvin Eugene King was sentenced to death for the slaying of Billy Ezell in a Jefferson County motel room.

According to the evidence, Ezell was robbed and stabbed to death during a drug transaction with King and another man on February 26, 1994.

With at least four felony convictions already on his record, parolee King was no stranger to the criminal justice system when he went on trial for capital murder.

A Jefferson County jury wasted little time returning him to prison, deliberating only 30 minutes before deciding King was guilty and deliberating just an hour before voting he should go to death row for the fatal stabbing of a Silsbee man during a drug deal robbery in Beaumont in 1994.

King was on parole when he was arrested for killing Billy Wayne Ezell, 21, of Silsbee, about 20 miles north of Beaumont.

Relatives described Ezell as ignorant of the ways of the city and making poor choices by choosing to sell crack cocaine in Beaumont in the days before his death. "According to one of his buddies and his mom, he was looking at this as an opportunity to make some really good money, really quickly, because he thought that would help him get back together with estranged wife," said Ramon Rodriguez, the Jefferson County assistant district attorney who prosecuted King. "He was just a country boy in over his head. "People at the hotel said he was flashing cash. It was not surprising somebody took advantage of him."

Evidence showed that was King, a landscaper who had been on parole for about five months after serving only four years of a 25-year prison term for burglary in Dallas County. Court records indicated Ezell was lured to a Beaumont motel Feb. 26, 1994 where he was stabbed, beaten and robbed by King and a partner, Leonard Johnson, also of Dallas. "It was a was a very brutal crime," Rodriguez said this week. "We're talking dozens of stab wounds, and then being bludgeoned with a table lamp."

The lamp cord also was wound around his neck. Johnson pleaded guilty and received a life prison term. King got a death sentence. In urging the jury to choose the death penalty, Rodriguez said he pointed out King did not need to kill Ezell. "All they had to do was rob him," he said.

Txexecutions.org

Calvin Eugene King, 48, was executed by lethal injection on 25 September in Huntsville, Texas for the murder of a man during a robbery.

In February 1994, Calvin King, then 40, rented Room 38 of the Cedar Sands Motel in Beaumont. That evening, he and three friends -- Leonard Johnson, Danyell Williams, and Carlette Gibbs -- spent the evening smoking crack cocaine in the room.

King was also buying and selling crack throughout the course of the evening. One of the group called Billy Wayne Ezell, who came to the room to sell them some crack. King bought $60 worth of crack from Ezell. While Ezell was in the room, he took a large roll of money out of his pocket, which was seen by everyone in the room. Ezell then left to visit some friends -- Kenneth Goodwin and Angelita Williams -- who were staying in Room 26 of the same motel.

At about 4:00 a.m. the next morning, 26 February, King and Johnson sent their girlfriends home in a cab, telling them that they were going to sell the crack they had just bought. King went downstairs and knocked on the door of Room 26. He asked Ezell to come to Room 38, which he did.

Ezell's body was found later that morning in Room 38. He was lying face down, nude from the waist down and partially covered with a blanket. A broken lamp lay next to him. The cord from the lamp was wrapped around his neck. The room was in disarray, as though a fight had occurred. Ezell had sustained multiple blows to his head and stabbing and cutting wounds to his head, face, throat, chest, and back. Additionally, both of his arms and hands had numerous defensive wounds. In all, Ezell suffered 37 major stab wounds and sustained extensive damage to the head.

King pleaded not guilty at his trial. Danyell Williams, King's girlfriend, testified that King had blood on his shirt when he and Johnson came home. She said that King appeared to have been in a fight.

After the three smoked some crack, Williams saw King and Johnson produce a roll of money covered in blood. King then set about washing the money and drying it in the oven. Carlette Gibbs, Johnson's girlfriend, testified that Johnson woke her up, crying and telling her he "didn't do it." Gibbs then observed that King was in possession of a large amount of crack and that there was "money everywhere" drying. Later, King told her, "I'm the one kill him [sic]. I'm the one that hit him over the head with a lamp, put a cord around his neck, and slice his throat [sic]."

Billy Hickman, who also lived in Danyell Williams' house, testified that he saw King and Johnson watching a news report about the killing, and King stated, "I done kill and I'll kill again."

King had five previous convictions. In April 1978, he was sentenced to 10 days in jail for assault. In April 1982, he received probation for his first theft offense. In August 1982, he received a 6-year sentence for a second theft conviction. He was paroled in June 1984. In August 1986, he received another 2-year sentence for a third theft conviction. He was paroled in April 1987.

In May 1989, he received a 25-year sentence for burglary of a habitation. He was paroled after four years, in September 1993. (At the time, early release was common in Texas because of strict prison population caps imposed by U.S. District Judge William Wayne Justice.)

A jury convicted King of capital murder in June 1995 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in September 1997. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

According to one source, Leonard Johnson pleaded guilty to murder and received a life sentence.

Calvin King Executed for 1994 Murder

By Mark Passwaters - The Huntsville Item

September 25, 2002

Calvin King, sentenced to death for the 1994 stabbing death of a 21-year-old man in Beaumont, was executed Wednesday night in the death chamber of the Huntsville "Walls" Unit. King was the last of five people executed in Texas in September, and the 28th put to death in the state this year.

Wearing a pair of glasses and a short beard, the 48-year-old King nodded at the witnesses he invited to view the execution before making a brief final statement. King - a convert to Islam - muttered, "Yes, I want to say God forgives as I forgive. God is the greatest. Thank you." He made no statement of remorse or acknowledgement of the wife, father and brother of his victim, Billy Ezell, who were witnesses at the execution.

After completing his statement, King nodded again at his witnesses as the fatal dose of chemicals began at 6:09 p.m. He gurgled and gasped twice as he lost consciousness seconds later. King was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.

Convicted of three previous burglary charges, King had been out of jail less than six months when he killed Ezell in the early morning hours of Feb. 26, 1994. Ezell, a drug dealer, had come to King's room at Beaumont's Cedar Sands hotel late on the night of Feb. 25 to sell crack cocaine to King and some friends. While there, Ezell pulled out a large wad of money, which got the attention of everyone in the room.

After most of his friends had left, King went to the room in the same hotel where Ezell was staying and asked him to return to his room, presumably to buy more drugs. Ezell never left the room; an autopsy performed on his body - which was recovered later on the morning of Feb. 26 - indicated he had been stabbed 37 times and his jugular vein, pulmonary artery and diaphragm had been punctured. King left the hotel and went to his girlfriend's house, where he pulled out the same wad of money witnesses had seen in Ezell's possession the night before. However, the money was covered in blood. King later washed money off of the blood and dried the money in an oven.

When reports of Ezell's murder were shown on television, one witness described King as saying, "I done kill and I'll kill again." Later, a witness said King admitted to killing Ezell, saying, "I'm the one (who) kill him. I'm the one that hit him over the head with a lamp, put a cord around his neck and slice his throat."

Inmate Executed for Drug Murder; State's 28th lethal injection of year

Houston Chronicle

September 25, 2002

HUNTSVILLE -- A Dallas man with at least four other felony convictions was executed Wednesday evening for a robbery-slaying in Beaumont during a drug deal while he was on parole. Calvin Eugene King, 48, was the 28th Texas inmate to receive lethal injection this year and the second in as many days.

In a brief final statement, King muttered, "I want to say, God forgives as I forgive, and God is the greatest. Thank you." As the drugs began flowing into his arms, he gurgled and then gasped twice. He was pronounced dead 11 minutes later, at 6:20 p.m.

A Jefferson County jury deliberated only 30 minutes before deciding King was guilty and deliberated just an hour before deciding he should go to death row for the fatal stabbing of Billy Wayne Ezell, 21, more than eight years ago. The U.S. Supreme Court refused Wednesday to review King's case. Two justices, John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, favored granting a reprieve.

Relatives described Ezell, from Silsbee, about 20 miles north of Beaumont, as ignorant of the ways of the city and making poor choices by choosing to sell crack cocaine in Beaumont in the days before his death. "According to one of his buddies and his mom, he was looking at this as an opportunity to make some really good money, really quickly, because he thought that would help him get back together with his estranged wife," said Ramon Rodriguez, the Jefferson County assistant district attorney who prosecuted King. "He was just a country boy in over his head. "People at the hotel said he was flashing cash. It was not surprising somebody took advantage of him."

Evidence showed that somebody was King, a landscaper who had been on parole for about five months after serving only four years of a 25-year prison term for burglary in Dallas County. Court records indicated Ezell was lured to a Beaumont motel Feb. 26, 1994, where he was stabbed, beaten and robbed by King and a partner, Leonard Johnson, also of Dallas. "It was a very brutal crime," Rodriguez said this week. "We're talking dozens of stab wounds, and then being bludgeoned with a table lamp." The lamp cord also was wound around his neck.

Johnson pleaded guilty and received a life prison term. King got a death sentence.

In urging the jury to choose the death penalty, Rodriguez said he pointed out that King did not need to kill Ezell. "All they had to do was rob him," he said. Testimony showed the pair took cash from Ezell and were seen at home using an oven to dry money they had washed to remove the victim's blood.

From Crack Binge to Death House: Drug Dealer's Killer Executed in Texas

TheDeathHouse.com

September 25, 2002

HUNTSVILLE, Tex. - Calvin King began his trip to death house in 1994 during a crack cocaine binge at a Beaumont motel that led to robbery and murder, a trek that has now ended eight years later on an execution gurney. King was executed by lethal injection at the Walls Unit Wednesday night, becoming the 28th convicted killer put to death in the state - and the second in two days.

King was convicted of the murder of Billy Wayne Ezell, stabbing and beating him to death in a motel in order to obtain a roll of money the crack-dealing Ezell was carrying. King, 48, was on parole at the time of the slaying. He had four prior felony convictions and had been paroled after serving four years in prison on a burglary conviction. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.

The murder occurred at the Cedar Sands Motel in Beaumont on Feb. 25, 1994. King and three others -including a pregnant woman - spent the evening smoking crack in their room. Ezell, a crack dealer, was called to the room several times by King or Johnson to sell the group more crack cocaine. In the room on the crack binge were King, Leonard Johnson, Danyell Williams (King's girlfriend) and Carlette Gibbs, who was pregnant, authorities said.

Prosecutors said that after King and Johnson saw Ezell pull out a large roll of money, they sent the women home. Hours later, a friend of Ezell wondered why Ezell’s car was still in the motel parking lot. Calls to his room went unanswered. Ezell also did not answer his pager.

Ezell's body was later found in a room at the motel, face down, partially covered and nude from the waist down. A broken lamp lay next to him, and the cord from the lamp was wrapped around his neck. The room was in disarray, as though a fight had occurred. Ezell had been struck on both sides of the head and stabbed 37 times, testimony at King’s trial later revealed.

Prosecutors said that when King and Johnson returned home from the crack binge, King had blood on his shirt and appeared to have been in fight. King and Johnson also had a roll of money "covered in blood."

A man who lived in the house with Danyell Williams testified that while King and Johnson were watching a news report about the killing at the Cedar Sands, King stated, "I done kill and I'll kill again." Later, King told Gibbs that he had killed Ezell. "I'm the one kill him (sic). I'm the one that hit him over the head with a lamp, put a cord around his neck and slice (sic) his throat," according to the testimony.

Texas execution

Reporter-News.com

AP September 25, 2002

Mays made no eye contact with six members of his victims' family, but turned to the warden and, concluding, said "let me make parole and I'm ready to go home to the lord." He coughed once and let out a long sputter as the lethal drugs began taking effect. He was pronounced dead eight minutes later, at 6:19 p.m.

Nationally, Mays was the 800th prisoner executed since the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976 allowed capital punishment to resume. He was the 27th this year and 283rd overall in Texas, which leads the nation by far in executions. Virginia's 86 is second.

In a confession, Mays said he used skills with a knife he learned as a Marine to fatally stab and slash the girls. The July 20, 1992 killings climaxed a day when the chronically unemployed Mays, who occasionally performed as Uh-Oh the Clown and also dressed as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, was fired from a low-level job in a printing company warehouse. "The world will be better off with him not being in it," said Lyn McClellan, the Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Mays.

No last-ditch appeals were filed to delay the punishment. "As per his request," Mays lawyer, James Reed, said.

Calvin King (TX) - Sept. 25, 2002

The state of Texas is scheduled to execute Calvin King, a black man, Sept. 25 for his 1995 capital murder conviction. A jury found King guilty of stabbing Billy Wayne Ezell to death on February 26, 1994. Authorities claim the victim, involved in a drug deal, entered Beaumont’s Cedar Sands Motel, where King allegedly murdered him. The defendant claims unjust rulings at his trial painted a false picture for the jury, which led to his conviction and death sentence.

Police Officer Leslie Apple testified that a woman at the crime scene, Angelita Williams, “stated…that a black male that she knew as King...possibly killed Billy.” King appealed the inclusion of this testimony on two grounds: first, that the statement was hearsay, and second, that the statement was opinion testimony with no factual basis.

First, the hearsay claim: King argued that the statement by Williams was not based on her own personal knowledge. The appellate courts ruled it admissible as an excited utterance – a statement relating to the event made while Williams was under the stress of excitement. They claimed that her statement should not be excluded from testimony because she made it under emotional stress caused by the discovery of Ezell’s body. Her statement, however, not only deals with a different issue – the murder suspect, as opposed to the discovery of the body – but it also should not qualify as an excited utterance because it was made well after the discovery of the body.

On the second part of this appeal, the opinion testimony, King argued that Williams had no factual basis for her comment to Officer Apple. She based her statement only on the facts that she had seen King coming in and out of the motel throughout the night and that she saw Ezell enter King’s room. These facts do not justify including her statement as evidence in King’s trial. Since Williams told Officer Apple this information at the motel – the scene of the crime – it very likely had a strong impact on the jury’s perspective of the murder. Without that statement, the jurors may have perceived King differently and considered his case more on factual evidence.

The defendant also filed several other appeals concerning his trial, claiming the jury received an unclear picture of the crime scene and his possible involvement. Lastly, he challenged the constitutionality of the death penalty, pointing out that the state of Texas administers capital punishment unequally due to economic circumstances in particular regions. For instance, Jefferson County, which has a larger tax base, can afford to seek the death penalty quite often, while smaller and poorer counties lack those available resources. This financial reality makes the sentencing process unequal in Texas and all over the country.