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Mar 9, 2009 5:49 pm US/Central
Arlington Man To Witness Second Execution
ARLINGTON (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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A execution gurney in death chamber at Huntsville, Texas. (File)
AP
Brad Humphreys of Arlington thought nothing could be worse than what happened July 11, 1988. His father, Wilton Humphreys, had listed a classified ad to sell a pick-up truck and RV trailer. While giving a test ride to a man he thought was a potential buyer, 64-year-old Wilton was murdered.
"Jeffery Eugene Tucker shot him twice in the chest, then in the head and then ran over him," said Brad.
When Brad watched Tucker die in Texas' death chamber he thought the worst chapter in his life was over.
But tragedy would strike again. This time his son, Mike, was murdered, caught between a woman and a man bent on getting revenge on his ex-girlfriend. Mike and his female friend had just pulled into her driveway from picking up fast food on the morning of September 21, 2000. A man clad in black jumped from the bushes with an assault rifle and opened fire, killing the woman, Sandra Walton.
"My son at the time just started getting out of the car and James Edward Martinez started to shoot Mike as well," Brad said. "And he finalized the deal by shooting my son Mike in the head. When one happens, you think the ultimate worst thing in your life happened. But then when your own child is killed, it's even worse. Your child is just not supposed to die before you."
Now, on March 10, 2009, Brad will see a second execution. This time, it will be that of Martinez,
who is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
"These criminals are basically killing themselves," Brad said. "If you're in a third world country where you steal something and they chop off your hand and you choose to steal something anyway, well, you're kind of chopping off your own hands.
Brad said he doesn't view the execution as vengeance or justice -- just a sad ending for everyone involved.
For me to go watch a man die is another crime on me -- the feeling of another crime," Brad said. "I want him to die, yeah. But I want him to die because it ends it. It moves to the next chapter in my book."
There is one thing Brad says he doesn't regret and that is having 'I love you' being the last thing he said to both father and son.
"We have opportunities every day to share our love with people and we need to take advantage of that and avail ourselves of it because you don't know," he said. "You just don't know."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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