The state's oldest death row inmate was executed last night. 78-year-old Carl Wayne Buntion was convicted of killing Houston police officer James Irby 32 years ago.
was executed Thursday for killing a Houston police officer during a traffic stop nearly 32 years ago."I wanted the Irby family to know one thing: I do have remorse for what I did," Buntion said while strapped to the Texas death chamber gurney. "I pray to God that they get the closure for me killing their father and Ms. Irby's husband.Buntion, joined by his spiritual adviser, began praying Psalm 23, "The Lord is my Shepherd...
"He was ready to fill out the paperwork and stay home and open a feed store," she said. "He wanted to be the dad that was there to go to all the ballgames and the father daughter dances. He was a super guy, the love of my life." But they argued his execution was unconstitutional because the jury’s finding he would be a future danger to society — one of the reasons he was given a death sentence— has proven incorrect, and also his execution would serve no legitimate purpose because so much time has passed since his conviction. His attorneys described Buntion as a geriatric inmate who posed no threat as he suffers from arthritis, vertigo and needed a wheelchair.
Buntion was also the first inmate executed in Texas in 2022. Although Texas has been the nation’s busiest capital punishment state, it had beenAs Texas prepared to execute Buntion, officials in Tennessee canceled the execution of an inmate Thursday in what would have been the state's first execution since the start of the pandemic.