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[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.wbir.com/video/news/local/billy-ray-irick-under-death-watch-ahead-of-execution/51-8212956] |
Billy Ray Irick | |
Born | William Ray Irick August 26, 1958 Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Died | August 9, 2018 (aged 59) Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Criminal penalty | Death (December 3, 1986) |
Criminal status | Executed |
First degree murder (November 1, 1986) Two counts of aggravated rape (November 1, 1986) | |
Details | |
Victims | Paula Kay Dyer |
Date | April 15, 1985 |
William Ray Irick(August 26, 1958 – August 9, 2018) was an American convicted murderer from Tennesseewho was sentenced to death and executed for the 1985 murder of 7-year-old Paula Dyer in Knoxville. Irick, then aged 26, had been living with Dyer's family for over a year, and was babysitting five of the family's children (including Dyer) on the night of the girl's murder.
Irick is also notable for having been the first inmate executed in Tennessee in almost a decade.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Ray_Irick
Irick's background
Irick was born on August 26, 1958, in Knoxville, Tennessee. He allegedly suffered extensive abuse from his family from a young age, including one incident where a neighbor witnessed Irick's father clubbing him with a piece of lumber, as well as Irick telling stories about how his parents would tie him up and beat him from a young age. His mental health was reportedly first questioned in March 1965, when he was 6. A psychological evaluation was subsequently performed at the request of his school's principal, owing to his "extreme behavioral problems". Nina Braswell Lunn, a clinical social worker who performed the subsequent evaluation of Irick, described that Irick may have been suffering from mild organic brain damage since birth.
Irick was briefly institutionalized before being sent to an orphanage for emotionally disturbed children. During an arranged visit to his parents' home in 1972, Irick (then aged 13) reportedly hit the household's TV set with an axe of some description, destroyed flower beds, and cut up his sister's pajamas with a razor blade.
Relationship with the Jeffers family
In 1983, while working as a dishwasher at a truck stopin Knoxville, Irick met and befriended Kenny Jeffers, an auto mechanic who lived in nearby Clinton. Jeffers later introduced Irick to Kathy, his wife whom he had married the previous year, and ultimately in 1984 Irick moved in with the couple and five of the eight children between them (seven of the children, including Paula Dyer, were the offspring of previous relationships, while the Jeffers' first child together was born in 1983.) Irick frequently babysat the children while the Jeffers parents worked long hours. At the start of April 1985, the family home in Clinton burned down, an ordeal during which Irick saved two of the boys from the burning building. Nobody was severely injured or killed during the fire, however, the family had to live in separate abodes as a result of difficulty in finding a house big enough for all eight of them. Thus, Irick moved to the Western Heights neighborhood with Kenny Jeffers, where they lived with Kenny's parents, while Kathy and the children moved to a small rental home on Exeter Avenue in Knoxville.
Paula Dyer
Paula Dyer | |
Born | Paula Kay Dyer March 5, 1978 Tennessee, U.S. |
Died | April 16, 1985 (aged 7) Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Cause of death | |
Resting place | Glenwood Baptist Church Cemetery, Powell, Tennessee, U.S. |
Parent(s) | Kenny and Kathy Jeffers |
Paula Kay Dyerwas born on March 5, 1978. She was described as a positive young girl who saw the best in others and was extremely trusting of people. Her mother claimed that, when told she could not randomly try to hold hands with strangers, Paula replied with: "Why, mommy? Jesus loves everybody. Why can't I?"
Paula's kind personality quickly made a positive impression on the neighbors of their new home. Her mother recalled one instance of Paula befriending a next-door neighbor shortly after their arrival at the address, after presenting the neighbor with flowers she had picked from the flower beds at the very front of the house.
Dyer's murder
On the morning of Monday, April 15, 1985, following an argument, Kathy Jeffers kicked Irick out of the Exeter Avenue home. That night, because the family's regular babysitter was unavailable, Kenny Jeffers dropped Irick off at the same house to babysit the children. When Kathy left for work at 10 pm, the children were asleep, and she felt uncomfortable leaving the children in Irick's care, on account of the argument earlier that day, Irick's behavior, and her suspicions that he had been drinking.
At around midnight, Kenny Jeffers received a call from Irick, telling him to come because Irick was unable "to wake (Paula) up". Upon arriving at the Exeter Avenue address, Kenny found Irick standing in the doorway looking vacant, before finding Paula unconscious on the living room floor in a pool of her own blood. After finding a pulse, Kenny wrapped Paula in a blanket and took her to the nearest children's hospital, where a doctor attempted unsuccessfully for 45 minutes to revive her. The same doctor, Dr. Jim Kimball, pronounced Paula dead of asphyxiation in the early hours of April 16, 1985. She was 7 years old.
Following Paula's autopsy, her cause of death was confirmed to be asphyxiation. In addition, the severe tears in her vagina and rectum were confirmed to be consistent with a brutal rape, as well as a head injury sustained during her ordeal being attributed to blunt force trauma that may have knocked her unconscious. As a result of Paula's murder, the Knoxville police department told the public on the morning of April 16 to be on the lookout for a man matching Irick's physical description. By 5 pm, Irick had been found and arrested beneath a bridge on the I-275. Paula Dyer was buried on April 19 following a fundraising campaign by the community she had been part of for mere weeks.
Legal proceedings and incarceration
Police testified that Irick readily confessed to murdering Paula Dyer, both verbally and in writing, and described his behavior as cooperative and remorseful. On April 17, 1985, Irick was arraigned in Dyer's murder, and was appointed two attorneys by a judge after he claimed that he planned to confess and thus did not want a lawyer.
On October 26, 1986, Irick went on trial for killing Dyer. Six days later, on November 1, he was found guilty by a Knox Countyjury. The defense had launched a failed mental illness claim in an attempt to spare Irick from the death penalty. Irick's mother refused to testify for the defense in an attempt to save Irick's life. On December 3, 1986, that same jury sentenced Irick to death by electrocution, with a tentative execution date of May 4, 1987 (which was stayed). Upon delivery of this verdict, Irick merely smiled and shrugged his shoulders.
Execution
On March 28, 2017, the Tennessee Supreme Court (TNSC) upheld the lethal injection protocols adopted by the Tennessee Department of Correction(TDoC). Thus, on January 18, 2018, the TNSC scheduled Irick's execution for August 9, 2018 — his sixth execution date since arrival on death row. In July 2018, a bench trial was held in Nashville regarding a lawsuit against the TDoC and its execution protocol, filed by over half of the population of Tennessee's death row. On July 26, the chair of the bench, Davidson CountyChancellorEllen Hobbs Lyle, ruled in favor of the TDoC. On August 6, the TNSC refused to grant a stay of Irick's execution to allow an appeal of the ruling. That same day, Tennessee GovernorBill Haslam refused to intervene in Irick's case.
Finally, on August 9, 2018, the United States Supreme Court refused to grant a stay of execution to Irick on the grounds of his mental health. Subsequently, Irick was executed at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution on August 9, 2018, less than three weeks before what would have been his 60th birthday. He was pronounced dead at 7:48 pm. Irick's execution was the first in Tennessee since Cecil Johnson was executed on December 2, 2009.
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Crimes against children are the most heinous crime. That, for me, would be a reason for capital punishment because children are innocent and need the guidance of an adult society. – Clint Eastwood [PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/85467] |
'I'm really sorry': Rapist and child murderer apologizes before 'coughing, turning purple and dying' from lethal injection in Tennessee's first execution in a DECADE after a last supper of a burger and onion rings
· The Supreme Court denied Billy Ray Irick's final request for a stay of execution
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He was pronounced dead at 7.48pm on Thursday at a Nashville state prison
He was pronounced dead at 7.48pm on Thursday at a Nashville state prison
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Irick ate a burger and onion rings before he was executed on Thursday night
Irick ate a burger and onion rings before he was executed on Thursday night
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Midazolam, vecuronium bromid and potassium chloride stopped his heart
Midazolam, vecuronium bromid and potassium chloride stopped his heart
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Irick's lawyers argued that the combination of drugs may not be enough to numb him to the pain and their use could constitute torture
Irick's lawyers argued that the combination of drugs may not be enough to numb him to the pain and their use could constitute torture
By Associated Press and Dailymail.com Reporter
Published: 05:43 AEST, 10 August 2018 | Updated: 07:11 AEST, 11 August 2018
The last words spoken by Billy Ray Irick were, 'I just want to say I'm really sorry,' before he was put to death in a Tennessee state prison on Thursday.
Witnesses to Tennessee’s first execution in nearly a decade say Irick, 59, at first signaled he would have no last words, but then gave a brief statement to those in attendance.
Journalists present reported that the blinds between a witness room and the execution chamber were opened at 7.26pm on Thursday, and about one minute later, Irick was asked if he had any words before the lethal injection drugs began flowing.
Irick was convicted in the 1985 rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl he was babysitting.
At the question of whether he had any final words to say, Irick first appeared to sigh and say 'no.'
But then he said, 'I just want to say I’m really sorry and that... that’s it.'
Irick was convicted of raping and murdering seven-year-old Paula Dyer in 1985.
'What he did to her is the reason he's where he is,' Kathy Jeffers, the other of Paula, told WBIR.
'I am sick of hearing about his pain and his suffering. What about her pain and her suffering? She was 7 years old, raped, sodomized, and strangled to death. I'm sorry, I feel nothing for his pain. Nothing at all. God, forgive me, but I don't.'
Irick was babysitting Paula, along with four of her brothers, the night she was raped, sodomized and strangled to death.
Her brothers were just in the next room and tried to save their sister, but Irick has barricaded the door and they couldn't break through.
He had come to be a trusted member of the large Jeffers family, which included a total of eight children, and had lived with them for more than a year before sexually assaulting and killing Paula.
It was Paula's father, Kenny Jeffers, who found his daughter, lying unconscious with a pool of blood between her legs that night, after Irick had called him home from work right around midnight, saying he couldn't wake her up.
Her father took her to the hospital, and after 45 futile minutes of attempts at lifesaving measures, Paula was pronounced dead.
One minute after he said he was sorry for the horrific events of that night, his eyes closed, and the sounds of snoring and heavy breathing could be heard.
The subtle sounds gave way at 7.34pm to coughing, huffing and deep breaths.
An attendant began yelling 'Billy' and checked the inmate and grabbed his shoulder, but there didn’t seem to be any reaction.
Two minutes later, Irick was not making any noise and began to turn dark purple.
He was pronounced dead at 7.48pm.
Irick is the first death row inmate to be executed by the state of Tennessee since 2009.
The US Supreme Court cleared the way for his execution on Thursday afternoon, denying Irick's final request for a stay.
But Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a blistering dissent, citing a recent state court trial of a case brought by 33 death row inmates challenging Tennessee's execution drugs.
The state Supreme Court denied Irick a stay on Monday related to those challenges, saying a lawsuit filed by inmates contesting the execution drugs being used wasn't likely to succeed.
Sotomayor wrote that the court is overlooking the potential for 'torturous pain' by that method of execution.
Governor Bill Haslam also had the power to stop his death, but declined to intervene.
In addition to legal challenges, since its last execution in 2009, Tennessee has had difficulties securing execution drugs including its previous chemical of choice, pentobarbital.
But none of those hurdles stopped the process for Irick, who was put to death on Thursday using a combination of midazolam, vecuronium bromid and potassium chloride injections, which stopped his heart.
His final meal consisted of a burger, onion rings and a Pepsi soft drink.
But Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a blistering dissent, citing a recent state court trial of a case brought by 33 death row inmates challenging Tennessee's execution drugs.
The state Supreme Court denied Irick a stay on Monday related to those challenges, saying a lawsuit filed by inmates contesting the execution drugs being used wasn't likely to succeed.
Sotomayor wrote that the court is overlooking the potential for 'torturous pain' by that method of execution.
Governor Bill Haslam also had the power to stop his death, but declined to intervene.
In addition to legal challenges, since its last execution in 2009, Tennessee has had difficulties securing execution drugs including its previous chemical of choice, pentobarbital.
But none of those hurdles stopped the process for Irick, who was put to death on Thursday using a combination of midazolam, vecuronium bromid and potassium chloride injections, which stopped his heart.
His final meal consisted of a burger, onion rings and a Pepsi soft drink.
In July Irick's attorney asked for the Tennessee Supreme Court to delay his execution once again amid a challenge to the state's lethal injection protocol.
For the first time, Tennessee used midazolam as a sedative, the muscle relaxer vecuronium bromid, and then potassium chloride to stop the heart.
At question is whether midazolam is effective in rendering someone unconscious and unable to feel pain from the other two drugs.
But Tennessee Supreme Court judges ruled Irick's attorney had failed to demonstrate a substantially less painful means to carry out the execution or that the drugs the state plans to use would cause the inmate to be tortured to death.
Federal public defender Kelley Henry had requested the US Supreme Court to delay his execution.
The Supreme Court rarely stays executions.
Henry had asked Haslam to issue a temporary reprieve while the drugs are studied further.
But the governor quickly ruled it out, saying he would not intervene.
'My role is not to be the 13th juror or the judge or to impose my personal views, but to carefully review the judicial process to make sure it was full and fair,' Henry said.
'Because of the extremely thorough judicial review of all of the evidence and arguments at every stage in this case, clemency is not appropriate.'
During the last trial, Henry cited witnesses that described some inmates who still could move, shed a tear, gasp and gulp 'like a fish out of water' while being put to death.
'Today's decision means that Mr Irick faces a scheduled execution date before the courts have had a chance to thoughtfully consider the challenge to the new lethal injection protocol,' Henry said in a statement on Monday.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Sharon Lee added that she 'will not join in the rush to execute Mr Irick and would instead grant him a stay to prevent ending his life before his appeal can be adjudicated.'
Attorneys for the state have said the US Supreme Court has upheld the use of midazolam in a three-drug series.
Paula's mother, Kathy Jeffers, said she has no sympathy for Irick.
'What he did to her is the reason he's where he is,' she told WBIR-TV.
'I am sick of hearing about his pain and his suffering. What about her pain and her suffering?'
'She was seven years old, raped, sodomized, and strangled to death. I'm sorry, I feel nothing for his pain. Nothing at all. God, forgive me, but I don't.'
OTHER LINKS:
Remembering Why: Rape and murder of 7-year-old Paula Dyer
Dad says Channon Christian's killer deserves same fate as Billy Ray Irick
First conservative TN Supreme Court in decades changed rule, paving way for Irick execution