Global InformationShaka Sankofa information
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Shaka Sankofa | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gary Lee Graham September 5, 1963 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | June 22, 2000 (aged 36) Huntsville Unit, Huntsville, Texas, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Execution by lethal injection |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Children | 2 |
| Conviction(s) | Capital murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death by lethal injection |
Shaka Sankofa (born Gary Lee Graham; September 5, 1963[1] – June 22, 2000) was a Texas death-row inmate who was sentenced to death at the age of 17 for the murder of 53-year-old Bobby Grant Lambert in Houston, Texas, on May 13, 1981. He was executed by lethal injection on June 22, 2000, in Huntsville, Texas.[2]
Lambert's murder occurred at night in the parking lot of a Safeway supermarket. Although Sankofa denied committing the murder, he admitted that at the time of Lambert's death he was on a week-long spree of armed robberies, assaults, attempted murders and one rape. He was captured after a 57-year-old woman he had kidnapped, raped and tortured gained control of his gun and held it on him. She then called police.
Sankofa maintained his innocence of Lambert's murder from the time of his arrest and throughout the nineteen years he spent on death row. He pleaded guilty to armed robbery charges.
Sankofa's supporters, including Coretta Scott King, bishop Desmond Tutu, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and celebrities Danny Glover, Kenny Rogers, Lionel Richie, Harry Belafonte and Ruby Dee, brought his case international attention, arguing that his conviction was based on the testimony of a single eyewitness who said she saw him for a few seconds in the dark parking lot committing the murder.[3] The witness contradicts this claim, stating she saw his face three times over the course of two to three minutes as she followed him from the crime scene. She was one of 19 witnesses to identify Graham during a crime spree which included 20 armed robberies, 3 kidnappings, 1 rape, and 3 attempted murders in addition to the Lambert murder.
The jury did not hear testimony from a few other apparent eyewitnesses who believed that Sankofa was not the killer because they believed he was too short to be the killer. They did not see his face. No other suspects were questioned and there was a lack of physical evidence. Supporters also argued that there was other crucial evidence the jury did not hear and that he had poor legal representation at the time of his trial.[4]
At the time of his execution, Sankofa became the 23rd inmate executed in Texas during 2000 and the 222nd person to be executed in Texas since capital punishment was resumed there in 1982.[5]
- ^ "Graham, Gary." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on July 17, 2016.
- ^ "Fight the Death Penalty in the USA: Executions in 2000". Retrieved 2009-01-23.
- ^ "Burden of Proof - Texas Death Row Case: Gary Graham Scheduled to be Executed in Less Than Two Weeks". CNN. 2000-06-09. Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
- ^ "BBC News | AMERICAS | Death row man executed". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-03-29.
- ^ "Texas parole board considers fate of condemned man". CNN. June 22, 2000. Retrieved 2009-01-23.