Death row inmate put to death for Crosby teen's murder

Have you noticed that as of late there is not much in the news about protesters over the death penalty. I didn't even know this guy was to be put down untill today. Do the crime in Texas and you will pay.

HUNTSVILLE — Before being put to death Wednesday, George Whitaker III apologized for taking the life of his ex-girlfriend's sister in an attack more than a decade ago that also left the victim's mother and a younger sibling permanently injured.

"I apologize for the pain and suffering I caused," said Whitaker, in an address to 16-year-old Shakeitha Carrier's parents, who did not witness the execution. "I pray Lord, please forgive me."

He then smiled at his own family members as they watched his final moments through a window in Texas' death house. He told them not to forget him and asked them to take care of his two children.

As the lethal drugs began flowing, he said: "You all take care. I love y'all. I'm going on to sleep."

Minutes later, Whitaker, 37, was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. He was the 16th prisoner to be put to death this year in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state. Three more Texas prisoners are set to die next week, including one from Harris County.

Whitaker, a former mechanic, was sentenced to death for taking Shakeitha Carrier's life during a home invasion in 1994. The teen was his former girlfriend's sister.

He was said to have been despondent about the breakup with Catina Carrier about two months before the murder.

On June 15, the day of the shooting, Whitaker went to the Carrier home in Crosby, east of Houston, to return items his former girlfriend left when she moved out of his home.

Carrier's mother, Mary Carrier, refused to let him into her home and instead told him to put the belongings on the porch.

"The expression on his face," Carrier testified, "it didn't look right to me." Whitaker brandished a gun and pushed his way into the house, court records show. Mary Carrier ordered her 5-year-old daughter Ashley to go upstairs as she begged Whitaker not to hurt her children. Whitaker shot Mary Carrier and then ran upstairs and pistol-whipped Ashley into unconsciousness.

Mary Carrier said she heard her daughter Shakeitha, known as Kiki, plead with Whitaker. "I heard Kiki cry, 'George, please don't! And then a shot," Mary Carrier said during Whitaker's trial.

Whitaker went to his truck to reload his gun and shot Mary Carrier a second time as she ran for help. Kiki died from the gunshot wound to her head. Ashley survived but suffered some permanent brain damage while Mary Carrier no longer has use of her right hand.

Catina Carrier was not home at the time.

Whitaker had exhausted all of his appeals days before the execution.

On Monday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected a clemency petition to commute Whitaker's death sentence to life in prison.

Sphere: Related Content