"Eye For An Eye" or "Let He Who Hath No Sin Cast The First Stone"

I am compelled to write in response to an article I read here last week. It was decidedly one sided, though well written, and supported by a large number of people. The earlier article was a call to petition against Capital Punishment and the "200th" execution in Texas. It was an angry call out to that, and to the states Governor, Rick Perry. As there are two sides to every coin, so are there opinions on this subject. (one) Those who are taken by death, and (two) those who make the decision to take it. This article is for those of us who are either "on the fence" about the subject, or those who believe "Eye for an Eye" in the true Biblical sense, when someone is convicted of a Capital Murder. There are also two families who suffer with the loss of those they love. Since state law reincorporated Capital Punishment in December of 1983 there have been 300 legal deaths in Texas. All being said, this is the story of Keith Clay, who was number 300, executed by lethal injection in March of 2003. Keith Clay and two others friends had driven to a convenience store for a pack of cigarettes. Ernest King, one of the men with Clay that day had went inside,made his purchase, then exited the store. Keith was just going in. Moments later he heard the sound of gunfire. He stopped cold and peered into the window. He saw Clay holding a gun he had in fact, sold him only weeks earlier. Keith had decided Melathethil Varughese's life was worth far less than the money in his cash register. After beating the clerk in the head with a blunt object he tied his hands in cords of Christmas lights. He shot him 6 times, then left the store with the black cash box in his hands. The three men then drove away. Ironically, Keith wasn't arrested on charges that ultimately had gotten him the death penalty, but had been picked up by the police in connection to another, even more horrific crime in nearby Baytown. Two weeks before the robbery and murder of the convenience store clerk there had been a triple murder of a father and his two little girls. Keith Clay was convicted of Capital murder and was sentenced and put on death row in 1997. After 6 years, in May of 2003 he had exhausted all appeals, both in state and federal courts. Within minutes before his execution his lawyer claimed that he Keith had only finished high school, and that he was menatally retarded. He was unable to sway the decision and lost the appeal.