TEXAS LAST MEAL
MAURICEO MASHAWN BROWN
July 19, 2006

...strapping on the feed bag...

Last Meal: Brown had a final meal request of fifteen enchiladas heavy with cheese and onions, onion rings or fries, eight pieces fried chicken and eight pieces bbq chicken, eight whole peppers, ten hard shell tacos with plenty of meat, cheese, onions and sause, four double meat-double cheese-double bacon burgers, a boneless T-bone steak with A1 Steak Sauce and a pan of peach cobbler.

The skinny: Brown, 31, a San Antonio gang member, was executed for the shooting death of a man during a robbery attempt in the driveway of his victim's home.

More skinny: On an August evening, Kenneth Foster, Mauriceo Brown, DeWayne Dillard, and Julius Steen embarked on a series of armed robberies around San Antonio, Texas, beginning with Brown’s announcing he had a gun and asking whether the others wanted to rob people: “I have the strap, do you all want to jack?”

The next day, Brown and his accomplices followed a car to the residence of the victim, looking to carjack the vehicle. Brown ran up to the man, who was standing near his vehicle. A woman who was with the victim heard Brown demand the man’s wallet, money and keys; she saw Brown point a gun at the victim's face for about two minutes before firing. The woman gave police a description of the assailants. Police arrested the men shortly thereafter.

Brown’s three accomplices gave written statements to police identifying Brown as the person who fatally shot the man. Brown admitted in his statement to police and at trial that he fired the fatal shot. At trial, Brown testified that he approached the man to obtain the woman's telephone number and only drew his weapon when he saw what appeared to be a gun on the victim. Foster and Brown were tried jointly for capital murder committed in the course of a robbery and they both were sentenced to death.

The early morning attack capped a spree by the street gang members who called themselves the Hoover 94 Crips. At least four other people were robbed that night. ``They were out pretty much on a rampage, stoned to the bone, victimizing people,'' said Jack McGinnis, one of the prosecutors in the cases against Brown and Foster.

Recant: Brown had been recanting his confession, saying his accomplices threatened his family if he didn't take the fall for the slaying. ``That claim is preposterous,'' said Mike Ramos, who was a Bexar County assistant district attorney in 1997 and also prosecuted Brown and Foster. ``He has absolutely no credibility. Any court could see he has zip.''

Leading up to: A brother said earlier Wednesday that Brown seemed calm and almost upbeat, having found refuge in religion. A month ago, Brown had himself re-baptized a Catholic. He had been reading the Bible daily. "He feels like everything happens for a reason, and he was given this opportunity to get his life right with God," Leslie Brown said.

Last words and such: With two brothers of his victim watching nearby through a window, Mauriceo Brown final words were..."To the victim's family, I am sorry you lost a brother, loved one and friend. I apologize that you lost a loved one this way. To my family, I love you all. Keep your heads up and know I will be in a better place. God bless you all. OK, Warden."

As the drugs took effect, Brown's mother wailed and then collapsed to the floor in tears, proclaiming he was innocent. "He was not guilty, God Jesus, no," screamed Cynthia Lucky after the drugs took effect and Brown lost consciousness. "They didn't care. They didn't care."

Factoids...Brown was the....

29th murderer executed in U.S. in 2006
1033rd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
15th murderer executed in Texas in 2006
370th murderer executed in Texas since 1976