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Thread: Mikel James Derrick - Texas Execution - July 18, 1990

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    Mikel James Derrick - Texas Execution - July 18, 1990


    Edward Sonnier




    Summary of Offense: Convicted for the 1980 robbery-slaying of a Houston man.

    Victim: Edward Sonnier

    Time of Death: 12:17 a.m.

    Manner of execution: Lethal Injection

    Last Meal: Ribeye steak, tossed green salad with blue cheese dressing, baked potato with sour cream (refused last meal)

    Final Statement: "I just ask everybody I ever hurt or done anything wrong to, to just forgive me for whatever wrongs I done to them."

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    July 17, 1990

    Former male hooker set to die

    HUNTSVILLE - A 33-year-old former male prostitute faces death by injection early Wednesday for the 1980 stabbing and robbery of a Houston man he had gone home with.

    Mikel James Derrick took his request for a stay of execution to the U.S. Supreme Court Monday afternoon after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his request.

    Derrick was convicted in the Oct. 11, 1980, robbery and murder of 32-year-old Edward Sonnier killed at his Montrose-area apartment.

    Derrick was in prison serving time for a robbery conviction when he notified authorities of his involvement in Sonnier's slaying. He told police he accompanied Sonnier to his Montrose apartment, where the two smoked marijuana.

    He said he stabbed the victim 15 times after Sonnier made a homosexual advance.

    Derrick, who had moved to Houston from the Hardin area and was working as a male prostitute, stole Sonnier's car, which he later stripped with the help of friends.

    Police had no suspects in the slaying until Derrick wrote Harris County District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr. saying, "I killed a man to get his car.' He wrote that he had heard his brothers might be wrongly charged in the theft of Sonnier's car.

    Derrick's attorney, Will Gray of Houston, had appealed the conviction, claiming the trial attorney had been ineffective. The court rejected the claim, noting, the "substantive and procedural weakness of (Derrick's) position - a sordid and brutal stabbing confessed to both orally and in writing.'

    http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...id=1990_716707

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    July 18, 1990

    Court rejects male hooker's appeal

    HUNTSVILLE - A former male prostitute who says he killed a Houston boat builder in 1980 to ward off a homosexual attack was awaiting execution late Tuesday.

    The U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 Tuesday afternoon to reject the appeals of Mikel James Derrick, 33, who was convicted of the robbery and slaying of Edward Sonnier, 32. Derrick has a lengthy criminal history that dates to his youth.

    He had appealed his conviction on the basis of comments the prosecutor made during jury selection and inadequate legal help.

    It was Derrick's first time through the federal appellate process, and although most death row prisoners get a postponement their first time though, Derrick did not.

    Assistant Texas Attorney General Dana Parker said Derrick's plea for a stay was denied because "the court, particularly the district court, had plenty of time to consider his claims and basically found them without merit. It was a clean conviction and a strong case for the state.' If executed, Derrick would become the third Texas convict put to death by injection this year and the 37th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982.

    Relatives of the victim could not be located, and Harris County authorities said they had no records of Sonnier's relatives.

    In a recent interview from death row, Derrick said he was on his way home from a downtown labor pool on Oct. 11, 1980, when Sonnier picked him up and drove him to Sonnier's Montrose-area apartment, where they smoked marijuana.

    "I killed him," Derrick said. "I openly admit that.' But Derrick said he did not pull a knife on Sonnier until the victim threatened him. He said he warned Sonnier three times to stop and then Sonnier attacked him.

    "On the third time, I realized there was no way to get away,"Derrick said. "So I just whipped out a knife and stabbed him across the side thinking that was going to stop it.' He said Sonnier got up, however. Derrick said he realized "there was no getting out of there that easy, so I guess I more or less kind of went off and it just took place.' Testimony at his trial, however, indicated that Derrick had stabbed Sonnier 19 times. Testimony indicated that any one of 16 stab wounds could have been fatal.

    Sonnier was stabbed eight times in the back and seven times around the heart, according to court records.

    "They were very, very accurate, concentrated wounds," Parker said.

    Houston attorney Kay Burkhalter, who prosecuted Derrick, disputed his version of how things happened. Derrick, she said, was a male prostitute who would lure men to his apartment, kill them and take their property.

    Derrick was in the state prison system, serving a 10-year sentence for aggravated robbery when he confessed to stealing Sonnier's car and murdering him. He wrote Harris County District Attorney John B. Holmes Jr. that he had murdered Sonnier, stolen his car and stripped it for the parts.

    Derrick told Holmes that he thought one of his three brothers was going to be charged with car theft. But Derrick's brothers ended up implicating him, and split a $1,000 Crime Stoppers reward with other family members, Derrick claimed.

    Derrick said he was not worried about facing death and wasn't bitter, although he said his family "sunk the ship" by testifying against him.

    "They're not deterring crime by this," he added. "The only thing they're stopping is the fact that I won't be able to get back out there myself and show them I can be a citizen again.

    "Each time they execute one guy, they've got four or five capital cases waiting right behind. And it ain't going to stop.'

    http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...id=1990_716721

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    July 18, 1990

    Male prostitute Derrick executed

    HUNTSVILLE - A former male prostitute who says he killed a Houston boat builder in 1980 to ward off a homosexual attack was executed by lethal injection early today.

    Mikel Derrick, 33, was pronounced dead at 12:17 a.m., six minutes after the injection.

    He was executed for the Oct. 10, 1980 killing of 32-year-old Edward Sonnier, stabbed 19 times in the victim's Houston apartment.

    "I just ask everybody I ever hurt or done anything wrong to, to just forgive me for whatever wrongs I done to them," Derrick said in his final statement.

    Earlier Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 Tuesday afternoon to reject Derrick's appeals. Derrick has a lengthy criminal history that dates to his youth.

    He had appealed his conviction on the basis of comments the prosecutor made during jury selection and inadequate legal help.

    While serving four 10-year terms on an unrelated robbery conviction, Derrick wrote a letter to the Harris County District Attorney's office saying he had committed the murder, stolen Sonnier's car and stripped it for parts.

    Derrick said that he had heard one of his brothers could have been charged for the car theft. The brother, who was caught with parts stolen from the car, implicated him and split a $1,000 reward with other family members, he said.

    It was Derrick's first time through the federal appellate process, and although most death row prisoners get a postponement their first time though, Derrick did not.

    Assistant Texas Attorney General Dana Parker said Derrick's plea for a stay was denied because "the court, particularly the district court, had plenty of time to consider his claims and basically found them without merit. It was a clean conviction and a strong case for the state.' Derrick was the fourth Texas convict put to death by injection this year and the 37th since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982.

    In a recent interview from death row, Derrick said he was on his way home from a labor pool on Oct. 11, 1980, when Sonnier picked him up and drove him to Sonnier's Montrose-area apartment, where they smoked marijuana.

    Derrick said he was provoked by a homosexual attack from Sonnier.

    Kay Burkhalter, the assistant district attorney who prosecuted Derrick, said Sonnier likely was not Derrick's only victim, although it was the only murder for which he was tried.

    "He was a prostitute and would lure men to his apartment, kill them and take their property," she said.

    Law enforcement records showed Derrick had a conviction for prostitution in New York.

    Derrick said his troubles with the law began at age 12 when he served time in a juvenile detention center for petty theft. Following his release, he went to Missouri to live with his mother, but she refused to accept him.

    He was convicted of auto theft in Beaumont and placed on four years probation.

    Derrick's family members testified against him at his trial.

    Derrick said he was not worried about facing death and wasn't bitter, although he said his family "sunk the ship" by testifying against him.

    "They're not deterring crime by this," he added. "The only thing they're stopping is the fact that I won't be able to get back out there myself and show them I can be a citizen again.

    "Each time they execute one guy, they've got four or five capital cases waiting right behind. And it ain't going to stop.' In Florida, the execution of Jerry White was pushed back to 7:01 a.m. Thursday after the state Supreme Court gave him a second 24-hour stay.

    http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/ar...id=1990_716722

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