I can't believe that he taught himself how to do this artwork. What a wasted life.
Posted on 08/27/2004 10:33:22 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A death row inmate whose case attracted the attention of celebrity capital punishment opponent Susan Sarandon was executed Thursday evening for killing a convenience store clerk.
Speaking slowly and quietly, his voice halting at times, James Allridge thanked his family and friends for loving him and expressed remorse.
"I am sorry, I really am," he said in a brief final statement. "I am sorry I destroyed y'all's life," he said looking at the family of his victim. "Thank you for forgiving me. To the moon and back, I love you all. I leave you all as I came — in love." Nine minutes after the lethal injection, he was pronounced dead.
Allridge, 41, was the 12th Texas inmate executed this year and the second in as many nights. He was convicted of killing Fort Worth store clerk Brian Clendennen, 21, who was robbed of $300.
Also Thursday, Oklahoma death row inmate Windel Ray Workman was executed by injection for the 1987 beating death of his live-in girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter. He was the sixth person executed in Oklahoma this year.
Sarandon visited Allridge last month, has purchased some of his prison-made artwork and for years corresponded with him. The 57-year-old actress won an Academy Award in 1996 for her portrayal of death penalty opponent Helen Prejean in the movie version of the New Orleans-based nun's book "Dead Man Walking." Prejean was among those who witnessed the execution.
Allridge's brother, Ronald, was also put to death, in 1995, for killing a woman during the robbery of a fast-food restaurant. Two other brothers were at Thursday's execution.
"Our parents have lost their second son by lethal injection to the state of Texas," they said in a statement. "Their pain is incomprehensible."
Allridge's attorneys were rejected in their last-day appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the punishment and review the case. They had argued that his rehabilitation disproved his trial jury's finding he'd be a continuing threat to society — one of the criteria for the death penalty in Texas.
"My brother didn't even have a chance at life," the victim's brother, Shane Clendennen, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "People who say the death penalty is wrong haven't gone through this. All I have is a picture and a grave site."
In the Oklahoma case, Workman, 46, was executed for the Jan. 10, 1987, killing of Amanda Holman. Three doctors involved in the case said the little girl died of blunt head trauma, and that her injuries were consistent with being hit by a fist, a hard object or being slammed into a wall, court records say.
Workman maintained his innocence, claiming the bruises were caused by Amanda's falls from her bed and in the bathtub. Later, he claimed either Amanda's mom or grandmother were at fault.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals and the 10th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Denver denied Workman's last-ditch efforts to save himself, rejecting his claims of innocence and inadequate trial defense. He did not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"I feel relieved," said Rebecca Griffitts, Amanda's mother, "but yet saddened, disappointed because he did not admit out of his own words and take responsibility for what he did."
Yeah, Texas is making this a nice little habit.
The more of these murderers we execute, the better off we will be down the road.
CORRECTION: "Our parents have lost their second son to thier own crimes and lack of moral upbringing"
Texas Death Row needs an express lane...
Imagine the pain of the families of their sons' victims. I can't imagine how these boys were raised - two murderers in one family?
I think being liked by Susan Sarandon is a capital offense in itself.
I wish California would get into the habit. There are over 600 people on death row. The last execution was a few years ago. Most of them will die of old age. The death penalty in California is meaningless.
Do you think the press will mention that Kerry is strongly anti the death penalty?
Of will they try to hide it like they do everything that might earmark him as a liberal.
Probably more.
Screw them. Dig 'em both up and kill 'em again, just for kicks.
I wonder if Sarandon would bond with someone who murdered one of her children. Then again, being the lamebrain liberal that she is, she probably would. She and Tim Robbins make a perfect couple.
The families of the victims grieve more - they had no warning of their child's death, they had no date and time for it. They received a phone call or a knock on the door. They have no time to say goodbye.
Yeah, whatever.
This was a great execution! It's like Texas just told Hollywood, "drop dead".
I admire the guy for leaving his family and the family of the man he murdered with loving words.
He sure seems to have come from a screwed up family though - two murderers in one family? Maybe it is better that they are put to death so that they won't be having any children.
Agreed. There should be a comparable number of executions each year, to the number of homicides.
About time they executed Tim Robbins.
You kill us we kill you back. LOL
LMAO
I would gladly trade Brian Clendennen for Susan Sarandon.
!!!!
"Our parents have lost their second son by lethal injection to the state of Texas," they said in a statement. "Their pain is incomprehensible."
With two brothers still alive and issuing a disgusting statement that just blames the "state of Texas," I wouldn't be surprised if one of them goes for the trifecta one day. That is one sick family.
imagine having that family legacy... absolutely disgusting... what i don't understand is why the guy said his brother never even had a chance at life...
Actress Sarandon visits condemned killer
MARK BABINECK
Associated Press
LIVINGSTON, Texas - Actress Susan Sarandon spoke with a condemned Texas killer for two hours Wednesday in a low-key death row visit.
Sarandon, an outspoken opponent of the death penalty who won an Academy Award for her portrayal of anti-capital punishment crusader Sister Helen Prejean in "Dead Man Walking," talked Wednesday with inmate James Vernon Allridge III.
However, she declined to discuss her visit. Longtime Texas death penalty activist Dave Atwood, who accompanied Sarandon, also declined comment.
"Just a visit," Atwood said as he escorted Sarandon, 57, to the Polunsky Unit's parking lot.
Allridge, 41, is scheduled to die Aug. 26 for the 1985 shooting death of a Fort Worth convenience store clerk. Neither he nor his attorney would comment Wednesday.
Allridge shot 21-year-old Brian Clendennen, of Everman, during a violent two-day crime spree undertaken by him, a brother and others.
Ronald Allridge, an older brother, was executed in 1995 - the year "Dead Man Walking" was released - for the slaying of Carla McMillen in a Fort Worth fast-food restaurant. Three other brothers witnessed Ronald Allridge's death.
James Allridge's connection to Sarandon might stem from his artistic pursuits. Since 1993, he has produced handmade greeting cards that have sold through the United States and Europe, according to a Web site to which he has contributed.
Sarandon is listed among several celebrity advocates for liberal causes who have purchased cards.
On another Web page registered in Austria, Atwood published an interview he conducted with Allridge in which the inmate admits his role in the crimes.
Authorities said James and Ronald Allridge, along with two accomplices, were responsible for at least 20 robberies in and around Fort Worth. While Ronald Allridge had an extensive and violent criminal record prior to the spree, James Allridge had not been in trouble before.
"I was an honor student in high school and a three-year letterman on the tennis team. I had managed my own business and had been in management at several fast food establishments. I had done a great number of positive things before this incident," Allridge is quoted as saying.
He went on in that interview to blame his late brother, Ronald, for pressuring him into becoming involved in the crimes. Elsewhere on the site, Atwood argues Allridge is rehabilitated and does not deserve to die.
Actress Susan Sarandon Visits James Allridge
Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon was in Texas visiting a death row inmate, a convicted murderer with whom the star has been corresponding for several years.
Sarandon showed up at a Livingston, Texas, prison Wednesday for an unannounced meeting with James Vernon Allridge III, who is scheduled for execution Aug. 26, the Houston Chronicle reported Thursday. The two became pen pals after Sarandon purchased detailed drawings of flowers and animals Allridge creates with colored pencils. I'm trying to be as low profile as possible. It fits the strategy at this time, Sarandon said about her visit. Susan is just here for a visit. ... She just told him to stay strong, that she would pray for him and was thinking of him, said David Atwood, founder of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, who took Sarandon to the prison. Whether Sarandon will work to have Allridge's execution stayed will be left to the attorneys, Atwood said. Allridge, 41, has spent the past 17 years on death row for murdering a convenience store clerk while robbing the store of $300 in 1985. - From Bignewsnetwork.com
The Art of James V. Allridge III
Tackling the question of restitution is akin to tackling the question of pro- or anti-death penalty sentiments. I don't wish to make restitution as a means to atone for past sins, to seek redemption or to gain forgiveness. These are issues that must be, and which I already have, taken up with God.
Humanity as a whole can be seen as a puzzle. We all are a small part of the whole. When a life is taken, one piece of that puzzle is taken away and cannot be replaced because it is individual and unique onto itself. This is why I concede that there is nothing with which I, or anyone else, could ever do to replace the life that was taken. However, my art allows me to contribute to the entire picture-the whole of humanity. My art allows me to give back something purposeful, productive, constructive and meaningful. By giving back a small part of me with each piece of art I create, I am giving back to society.
I don't ask for forgiveness or recognition from anyone for what I do. I do it simply because I believe it is the right thing to do and for no other reason. I would hope that anyone who has lost a loved one to a senseless act of violence would only want the world to be a better place as a result of their loved one's death.
It is my belief that society would be better served by seeing a changed individual because of what he has learned from the experience than by adding to the cycle of violence by taking yet, another life.
James V. Allridge, III
Death Row, Terrell Unit
Livingston, Texas
James V. Allridge III donates his share of the art show proceeds to the Texas Association Of X-Offenders (TAX). TAX is a faith-based criminal recovery and relapse prevention program that targets adult inmates, inmate families, parolees, probationers, and x-offenders. Its programs are structure- and curriculum based. The idea of TAX is to provide a positive identity group for those impacted by the criminal justice system that will help them achieve a crime-free, drug/alcohol-free, prison-free prosocial lifestyle.
The TAX program is not only preventive, but redemptive. Its primary goal is developing human potential through personal empowerment. To rescue a person from a life wasted on crime, drugs, violence, and abuse, you must--so to speak--take that person to the other side of the mountain and show them what is there. TAX does that through role modeling, curriculum-based self-help programs, and peer support groups.
Did Susan Saranwrap get all misty eyed? I love it when a excution comes together. One less killer, receiving three hots and a cot. Bush/Cheney 2004
what a waste
One can be anti-death penalty and be conservative. There are many christians who are as such. Too bad it's a liberal dominated issue. I rather not kill people, even if they killed other people, but the liberals don't want churches and other awful terrible christian rehabilitation stuff in prison. Unfortunately for him, Susan Sarandon got involved!
Thanks Texas, you made my week. Two less subhumans that society will have to worry about.
Now, if we could just go through Death Row, nationwide, and execute all the 4,000+ subhumans there, it'd be a much better world.
The victims are still dead, while way too much garbage just languishes, at our expense.
So the guy could paint, BFD. John Gacy liked to paint clowns.
WWAAAHHHH. Your brothers got to know how they were going to die, and it was peaceful and painless. Their victims met violent sudden death which is something all of us in this world walk around fearing in the back of our minds. It's just a pity the victim's families had to wait so long for justice.
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