A man from Texas with death sentenced for shooting a city's code enforcement officer was executed Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme court dismissed the appeal to overturn the sentence. The final appeal claims he was mentally ill and delusional when he committed the crime.
Adam Ward, 33 years old, was scheduled to be executed on the evening of March 22 for the convicted capital murder over the death of Michael Walker, 44, a code enforcement officer in 2005, according to Dallas Morning News. Ward insisted it was self defense when he shot the code enforcement officer outside the Ward family home in Commerce, about 65 miles northeast of Dallas.
However, Walker was only taking pictures of junk filed outside Ward's home. Before the hours of his set time for executions, his representing lawyers argued that he was delusional and mentally ill when he committed the killing, which he should not be sentenced to death.
However, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his last appeal, one of the appeals which can be filed before Ward faces death by lethal injection, the Texas Tribune reported. A spiritual advisor and three of his friends were present on his execution day Tuesday. His parents choose not to attend, however, they have already spoken to him in the morning.
He spoke for five minutes before he was injected with the lethal dose of pentobarbital. Ward thanked his family and friends, and also wished peace to Walker's family. He went on saying, his execution was injustice and wrong. "I know there's something else I need to say, but I don't know." His last words before drifting to sleep, "I feel it." Ward was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. Tuesday.
Earlier appeals which claims he has mental illness was dismissed in 2007. Supreme Court rejected his appeal as State lawyers said, they found evidence showed the defendant's IQ was as high as 123. The justices have ruled suffering mental illness, with an IQ below 70, may not be executed, San Antonio Express News reported.
In June 13, 2005, the victim was taking photos of alleged code violations at the home where Ward lived on Caddo Street. The two engaged in a verbal altercation, which ended when Ward shot Walker as many as nine times with a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol.
Ward was charged with intentionally murdering Walker while in the course of committing an obstruction or retaliation, making it a capital murder case. He was convicted and sentenced to death in June 2007.
