Summary of Offense: Tarver was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1984 robbery and murder of Hugh Kite, the owner/operator of Kite's Grocery and Bait Store in Cottonton. Kite was apparently closing up his store, walked outside and went around the corner of the building where he was shot three times with a .38-caliber revolver and robbed of his cash. "That store was kind of a community center, a gethering place for people in the community. Most everybody in the area knew him, including Tarver and and his accomplice, Andrew Lee Richardson.

At trial, Richardson testified he was with Tarver on the night Kite was murdered. He said the two men were drinking beer in Tarver's late 1970s Chevrolet Impala in a pasture near Kite's store before Tarver, armed with a gun, got out of the car and walked toward the store. Richardson said Tarver returned, gave him $80, and told him "he had to kill" Kite. Richardson pled guilty to lesser charges of first-degree robbery and received a 25-year sentence, eligible for parole in April 2001.

Tire tracks matching Tarver's automobile were recovered outside the store, and Tarver's fingerprint was recovered from a beer can nearby. Taking the stand in his own defense, Tarver, who was on parole for a previous robbery conviction at the time of the shooting, said he was nowhere near Kite's store the night of the murder and denied killing him. Instead, he pointed the finger at Richardson, who had shown Tarver the gun he used to kill Kite. The jury was not convinced. Finding him guilty, it recommended a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Russell County Circuit Court Judge Wayne Johnson overrode the recommendation, however, ordering Tarver put to death.

Victim: Hugh Kite

Time of Death: 12:11 a.m. CDT

Execution Method: Electric chair

Last Meal: Waived his final meal

Last Statement: This offender declined to make a last statement.