Andres Antonio Torres - South Carolina Death Row

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Summary of Offense:

Sentenced to death for the brutal murders of Ray and Ann Emery.

In May of 2007, Union County Emergency Services received a call reporting a one-car accident involving a van. Subsequently, Torres was identified by witnesses in a police photo line-up as the driver of the van.

Officers arrived on the scene of the accident shortly after Torres fled the area and discovered that the van was registered in the name of Ann Emery. Officers found Ann and her husband Charles Ray Emery's (collectively "the Emerys") belongings in the van, and based on that discovery, requested a welfare check on their residence.

Upon arriving at the Emerys' residence and getting no response at the front door, officers walked around the house to check for signs of forced entry. Finding none, officers entered the residence through an unsecured door, immediately smelled the odor of gasoline, and noticed the house felt hot. Officers discovered the body of Charles Ray Emery lying face down on the mattress in the bedroom. The body of Ann Emery was discovered on the floor beside the bed after EMS arrived on scene. Due to the extent of their injuries, neither body could be identified at the scene, and identification was accomplished at the hospital during an autopsy. Due to the compromising position of Ann Emery's body at the scene, a sexual assault kit was administered. Semen taken from Ann Emery's body by way of the kit matched DNA of Torres. Torres was indicted on: two counts of armed robbery; two counts of murder; one count of burglary of a dwelling, first degree; one count of attempt to burn; and one count of criminal sexual conduct, first degree. A jury trial was held, resulting in a verdict of guilty on all counts.

Torres was sentenced to death in Spartanburg County on October 22, 2008.

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October 23, 2008

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Tony Torres has been sentenced to death in the beating death of a Spartanburg couple.

It took jurors almost two hours to decide the penalty Torres would face. On Sunday, a jury convicted Tony Torres of beating Ray and Ann Emery to death with a hammer last May.

The jurors began deliberating just before noon Thursday after Torres spoke to the jury during the death penalty phase of the trial.

"I stand in this courtroom and I have to live every day the rest of my life knowing that I've been found guilty of killing my best friend's parents," Torres said, as he cried. "Although I may be hated, I just want to ask people to forgive me."

Torres ripped a sheet of paper that was placed in front of him to read.

"What's in front of me, I don't want to read that. I want to tell you something from my heart, because it hurts," he told the jury. "I didn't ask to be born and not going to ask to die. As I stand up here, it's like standing at the gates asking God to let me in."

Just minutes before Torres spoke, Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy had prompted several jurors to reach for tissues, as he showed them graphic pictures of the Emerys' bodies during his closing arguments and talked about their life together.

"They lived together, they loved together and they died together," Gowdy told the jury.

"He's been shown mercy," Gowdy said, referring to Torres' 40 prior convictions, which range from car break-ins to burglaries.

(Source FoxCarolina.com)

[Heidi]

On December 13, 2010, the South Carolina Supreme Court affirmed, on direct appeal, the death sentence for Andres Antonio Torres. Torres appealed the use of autopsy photos and videotapes used in the sentencing phase of trial.

Opinion here