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Thread: Christopher Sepulvado - Louisiana Death Row

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    Christopher Sepulvado - Louisiana Death Row


    Wesley Allen Mercer




    Summary of Offense:

    Sepulvado has been on death row in Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola since being convicted in 1993 of beating and scalding to death his six-year-old stepson, Wesley Allen Mercer, the previous year. Sepulvado starved Mercer and hit him in the head with a screwdriver before immersing the unconscious child in a tub of scalding water. Mercer died hours later.

  2. #2
    djurgens76
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    This thread left out that Christopher tortured Wesley for 4 days, here only a few atrocities are mentioned that Christopher committed over this 4 day period.. And also let's not forget Wesley died alone in the back seat of a car wrapped in a blanket on the way to the hospital.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    I can't make heads or tails of where Sepulvado is in his appeals process. There seems to have been a lot of time exhausted on a clemency appeal that made it's way to the US Supreme Court and was denied in 2006.

    I searched back to 2003 in federal district courts and there hasn't been any appeals filed there.

    There was an execution date of Nov. 12, 1999 set, obviously stayed.

  4. #4
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Facts taken from direct appeal

    STATE OF LOUISIANA V CHRISTOPHER SEPULVADO

    On Thursday, March 5, 1992, defendant married the victim's mother, Yvonne. The next day, Friday, the victim came home from school, having defecated in his pants. Yvonne spanked him and refused to give him supper. Defendant returned home from work at approximately 9:00 p.m. That night, the victim was not allowed to change his clothes and was made to sleep on a trunk at the foot of his bed. On Saturday, the victim was not allowed to eat and was again made to sleep on the trunk in his soiled clothes. At around 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, defendant and the victim were in the bathroom, preparing to attend church services. Defendant instructed the victim to wash out his soiled underwear in the toilet and then take a bath. When the victim hesitated to do so, defendant hit him over the head with the handle of a screwdriver several times with enough force to render him unconscious. Thereafter, the victim was immersed in the bathtub which was filled with scalding hot water.

    Approximately three hours later, at around 1:50 p.m., defendant and his wife brought the victim to the emergency room at the hospital. At that time the victim was not breathing, had no pulse, and probably had been dead for approximately thirty to sixty minutes. All attempts to revive the victim were futile. The cause of death was attributed to the scald burns covering 60% of the victim's body, primarily on his backside. There were third-degree burns over 58% of the body and second degree burns on the remaining 2%. The scalding was so severe that the victim's skin had been burned away. In addition to the burns, medical examination revealed that the victim had been severely beaten. The victim's scalp had separated from his skull due to hemorrhaging and bruising. Also, there were deep bruises on the victim's buttocks and groin which were not consistent with accidental injury. At trial, defendant admitted that he hit the victim with a screwdriver, but contended that the victim fell into the tub accidentally. However, the state presented expert testimony that the burn marks on the victim's body did not indicate he accidentally fell into the tub, since there were no signs of splash marks that would result from a struggle. The experts testified that the marks were consistent with the victim being dipped or immersed into the scalding water.

  5. #5
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Judge to consider death date for child killer

    A Mansfield man who killed his stepson more than 20 years ago soon could have a date with death.

    DeSoto District Judge Robert Burgess has set a Dec. 12 hearing to consider lifting a stay of execution and setting a date for lethal injection for Christopher Sepulvado.

    “We are strongly in favor of the stay being lifted. It is time for justice to be done. This was one of the first death penalty cases that I worked on, and it left a lasting impression on me. We intend to argue vigorously that the stay should be lifted,” District Attorney Richard Johnson said in response to a court order Burgess signed Thursday setting the hearing date.

    Sepulvado has been on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola since his conviction in April 1993 for the death of Wesley Allen Mercer, 6, on March 8, 1992. Allen’s mother, Yvonne, was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to 21 years.

    “Horrific” was the description used by those involved with the case when describing Allen’s death. The quiet, small-framed child endured days of abuse leading to his death on a Sunday afternoon.

    Sepulvado tried to excuse Allen’s death as an accident. But the jury didn’t buy it and often wept after hearing how Allen was punished when he returned home from school Friday, March 6, 1992, with soiled pants. He was denied food and forced to sleep for two days on a trunk in his bedroom.

    As the family prepared for church Sunday, March 8, 1992, Allen hesitated when Sepulvado told him to wash his clothes in the toilet and take a bath. Sepulvado hit the child so hard in the head with a screwdriver handle that it rendered Allen unconscious.

    He then immersed Allen in a bathtub of scalding water. It was so hot that Allen suffered third-degree burns that sloughed off the skin below a visible demarcation line along his body.

    Sepulvado and Yvonne Mercer waited three hours before seeking medical treatment. Physicians testified Allen had been dead at least a half-hour or hour before being taken to the hospital, but life-saving efforts were attempted at no avail.

    In the years since his conviction, Sepulvado’s case has gone through multiple state and federal appeals and lawsuits, none of which was successful. The last execution date set in 1997 was stayed by a federal court judge five days before Sepulvado was to die.

    http://www.shreveporttimes.com/artic...e-child-killer
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  6. #6
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On October 6, 2003, the US Supreme Court denied Sepulvado's certiorari petition on a habeas appeal (the respondent was Warden Burl Cain) out of the Fifth Circuit. On November 10, 2003, rehearing was denied.

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.a...s/02-10898.htm

  7. #7
    Senior Member CnCP Addict Stro07's Avatar
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    Let's hope this one will be the first involuntary execution in Lousiana in ten years. His crime is one of the most vicious encountered on this site.
    Last edited by Stro07; 11-19-2012 at 01:15 PM.

  8. #8
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    Feb. 13 execution date set for child killer

    A Feb. 13 execution date has been set for a former Mansfield man convicted of killing his stepson more than 20 years ago.

    DeSoto District Judge Robert Burgess set the Chris Sepulvado’s date with death over the objections of defense attorney Marty Stroud, who pledged an appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

    It won’t be the first time an effort has been made to stop Sepuvado’s execution. The five-page warrant of execution signed by Burgess this morning outlines in detail Sepulvado’s failed appeals through state and federal court.

    A DeSoto Parish jury in April 1993 imposed the death penalty for Sepulvado for the March 8, 1992 death of Wesley Allen Mercer, 6. The preschooler endured what authorities described as torture on the days leading to the end of his short life.

    Allen was denied food and forced to sleep on trunk in his bedroom as punishment for soiling his pants at school two days before his death. As the family prepared for church on that Sunday, Allen hesitated when told by Sepulvado to wash his clothes in the toilet and take a bath.

    Sepulvado hit Allen so hard in the head with a screwdriver handle that it rendered him unconscious. He then immersed Allen in a bathtub of scalding water that caused suffered third-degree burns and sloughed off the skin below a visible demarcation line along his body. Sepulvado and Allen’s mother, Yvonne Mercer, waited three hours before seeking medical treatment.

    Sepulvado claimed Allen’s death was an accident, and he often quoted Bible scriptures and boasted of his church work during his trial. His physical appearance witnessed in the courtroom today differed little from that time.

    Nineteen years on death row appeared to have added a few pounds to the diminutive man, who turned 69 on Nov. 1. His hair is still salt and pepper but it was close-cropped instead of longer style he sported during his trial. He also wore large black-framed glasses.

    Shackled and handcuffed, Sepulvado shuffled into the courtroom flanked by two Louisiana State Penitentiary guards. He spoke with Stroud and acknowledged a few deputies but made no comments when standing before Burgess.

    Announcement of an execution date solicited no reaction from Sepulvado.

    His last execution date set in 1997 was stayed during the prolonged appeals process. Although the appeals were denied, a new execution date was not set. Then in July 2008, Burgess signed a court order delaying further action because the constitutionality of Louisiana’s method of lethal injection was still under review by the state Supreme Court.

    Stroud said the case was settled in Louisiana when the high court denied writs. But it is still being litigated in the U.S. District Court’s Western Division. He asked Burgess to keep the stay of execution in place until a final decision is made.

    However, in his court order, Burgess said Sepulvado “failed to show sufficient cause why the stay of proceedings should not be lifted and a death warrant executed forthwith.” There are no other outstanding applications for relief or stays of execution, he noted.

    http://www.shreveporttimes.com/artic...xt|FRONTPAGE|p
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  9. #9
    is this a serious execution date?

  10. #10
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    He can still appeal to the US Supreme Court.
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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