Ponchai Wilkerson
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Ponchai Wilkerson (July 15, 1971 – March 14, 2000) (also Ponchai Kamau, Kamau Wilkerson, or Ponchai "Kamau" Wilkerson) was a convicted murderer executed by lethal injection by the U.S. state of Texas. He was convicted for the November 28, 1990 murder of jeweler Chung Myong Yi. He was convicted by a jury on July 16, 1991 and ten days later sentenced to death by the same jury.
Wilkerson, of African-American and Thai descent, was born in Houston, Texas. Not much is known about Wilkerson's early childhood; he later grew up in the Fort Bend-Houston area east of Missouri City, Texas, attending public schools in the Fort Bend Independent School District. Ponchai dropped out of Willowridge High School in 1988.
On November 28, 1990, Wilkerson and Wilton Bethony entered Chung Myong Yi's jewelery shop Royal Gold Jewelry Store in Houston, Texas. They had been on a crime spree for a month. Wilkerson left briefly twice, and pulled a Glock pistol from his jacket upon returning the second time and fired the gun without warning at Myong Yi's temple from a distance of 12 inches (30 cm). During the trial, Wilkerson would state that he had fired the gun in self defense after becoming alarmed with jeweler's movements behind the counter. They then smashed the display cases and grabbed rings and necklaces.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentenced on December 12, 1994. He also appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Supreme Court of the United States, who both denied his appeals.
During Thanksgiving Day, 1998, Wilkerson and seven other death row inmates were involved in an attempted prison break where death row inmate Martin Gurule was the only one who managed to escape the facility but drowned in a nearby river.
Wilkerson exhausted his final appeal to Judge Jan Krocker in February 2000, a dramatic scene involving community activist Njeri Shakur (member of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement and the Allen Parkway Village Residents Council) shouting at Judge Krocker led to a contempt charge against Shakur; she served 30 days in the Harris County Jail abeit several demonstrations outside the Harris County Courthouse. Shakur became friends with Ponchai when on death row, along with Deloyd Parker, Jr. (the founder of the S.H.A.P.E. Community Center).
On February 21, 2000, Wilkerson and fellow death row inmate Howard Guidry took guard Jeanette Bledsoe hostage at the Terrell Unit outside Huntsville. Members of the National Black United Front and the S.H.A.P.E. Center demanded that Wilkerson release the hostage. Thirteen hours later, the guard was released unharmed.
On the day of his execution, Wilkerson refused to leave his cell at the Terrell Unit prison near Livingston, Texas. Guards were forced to use Mace-like gas and carry him to and from the van that took him to the Hunstville Unit. He did not give a last meal or any instructions on the disposal of his body. When asked if he had a final statement by the warden he responded:
- "This is not a capital case"
After the drugs were administered, Wilkerson spit out an inch-and-a-half universal handcuff and leg restraint key. He was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m..
In September 2005, five years after Wilkerson's death, a car seat stored in the Houston Police Evidence Room was revealed in the wake of the Houston Police Crime Lab scandal. The car seat was never entered as evidence in Wilkerson's original trial.
