Marvin Wilson Executed: Texas Puts Man With 61 IQ To Death ...

?After reading this, the sick feeling I?m experiencing in the pit of my stomach, prevents me from adequately expressing my thoughts?

NEW YORK ? Texas authorities executed Marvin Wilson, a 54-year-old death row inmate, on Tuesday night after his attorneys failed to convince state and federal courts that he was mentally retarded and ineligible for the death penalty under a 2002 Supreme Court ruling. Wilson was declared dead at 6:27 p.m. local time. He cried out to his gathered family members as he expired, Texas officials said. ?Give mom a hug for me and tell her that I love her,? Wilson said. ?Take me home, Jesus. Take me home, Lord,? he continued. ?I ain?t left yet, must be a miracle. I am a miracle.?

The Supreme Court late in the afternoon rejected without comment a last-ditch appeal by Wilson?s lawyers, clearing the way for his death by lethal injection. The appeal cited a 2004 psychological exam that pegged Wilson?s IQ at just 61. The Texas benchmark for mental retardation is an IQ of about 70 or less.

School records showed Wilson fared poorly in school, earning Ds and Fs in special education classes, and failing 7th grade. Family members testified that Wilson was called ?dummy? and ?retard? by other children when he was a boy, and struggled with basic tasks that include tying his shoes, counting money and mowing the lawn.

According to his sister, Wilson sucked his thumb into his 20s. His cousin, Beverly Walters, said Wilson was constantly teased about his intelligence as a boy. ?The other kids in school would always call Marvin dummy,? Walters said in 2003.

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Source: http://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/marvin-wilson-executed-texas-puts-man-with-61-iq-to-death/

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