February 11, 2004
HUNTSVILLE, Tex. - Edward Lagrone killed a 10-year-old child he had impregnated. He also murdered two elderly relatives of the child, including a great aunt who was blind and bedridden with cancer.
One prosecutor called him a "poster boy" for the death penalty.
Tonight, the poster boy was executed, but claimed he was innocent of the murders.
Lagrone, 46, was executed by lethal injection at the state prison here Wednesday night. He was put to death for the 1991 triple slaying in Fort Worth.
At the time of the murders, Lagrone was on parole for another Tarrant County slaying in which he had received 20 years in prison. He had been released in 1984.
Fried Chicken, Soda And Death
"As I said from day one, I didn't go in there and kill them, but I'm no better than the people that did," Lagrone said in his last statement form the execution chamber. "Jesus is Lord."
With those words, the lethal dose began at 6:11 p.m. and Lagrone was declared dead at 6:18 p.m., the fifth condemned killer executed in Texas in 2004.
A spokeswoman for the Texas prison system, Michelle Lyons, said Lagrone had requested five pieces of fried chicken and assorted soft drinks for his last meal. Although several members of the victims' family witnessed his execution, Lagrone had no member of his family in attendance.
Sexually Assaults Child
Prosecutors say Lagrone had been dating Pamela Lloyd. At the same time, he was sexually assaulting her daughter, Shakiesha, prosecutors charged.
When Pamela Lloyd found out that Shakiesha was pregnant and Lagrone had been sexually assaulting the child, she was going to call police. Lagrone decided to kill them to prevent Pamela Lloyd from pressing charges, prosecutors stated.
Prosecutors say Lagrone came into the Lloyd's Fort Worth home on May 30, 1991 at about 5 a.m. He wounded a member of the family, Dempsey Lloyd, 48, with a blast from a shotgun. He then shot and killed Zenobia Anderson, 83, and Caola Lloyd, 76, who had cancer and was blind, court documents stated.
Shot In Head
Meanwhile, Shakeisah was trying to run away when she was grabbed and shot in the head. The child had just completed the fourth grade.
Two other men who were in the house, Charles and Dempsey Lloyd, identified Lagrone as the shooter. A girlfriend of Lagrone also testified that she purchased the shotgun for Lagrone that was used as the murder weapon.
Lagrone claimed that other men did the shooting and he was innocent. He claimed Pamela Lloyd was a crack addict, later convicted and sentenced to jail for the slaying of Shakeisah's father. His lawyers claim that the murders were drug related and committed by others.
Mother Imprisoned For Slaying
Lagrone had claimed that in their original statements to police, witnesses said that "several men came into the house" and no witness identified Lagrone as one of them. He claims the witnesses changed their statements at trial.
Pamela Loyd, now imprisoned for the slaying of the girl's father, requested permission to witness the execution of Lagrone. However, Texas Department of Criminal Justice policy forbids inmates form witnessing executions, a spokeswoman for the department stated.
