New death sentence

Death awaits Ramey----Triple homicide leads to death chamber for Kersean Ramey

Jan 25, 2007


It only took about 20 minutes Tuesday for a Victoria County jury to decide that an Edna man should be sentenced to death for his part in the shooting deaths of three Edna residents in 2005.

Kersean Ramey stood with his hands in the pockets of his black trousers as Judge Stephen Williams issued the verdict about 11:20 a.m. Tuesday.

Ramey was found guilty last week of capital murder in the shooting deaths of Samuel Roberts, 24, Tiffani Peacock, 18, and Celso Lopez, 38, inside their Edna home on Aug. 24, 2005. The trial was moved from Jackson County to Victoria County on a change of venue request.

After the sentence was read, Linda Coker stood with other family members in the courtroom and said, "At one time, I needed for someone to say they were sorry for what they took from me. I no longer need that."

Coker, the mother of Samuel Roberts, was 1 of 4 family members allowed to speak to Ramey through victims' impact statements.

"I picked out a crib and a coffin for my son," she said. "Your mother will have to do that and it is your fault."

Her husband, Steve Coker, echoed her words adding, "I encourage you to get to know Jesus. That is the only hope you have."

Waynette Hons, Peacock's grandmother, said, "We know where they are ... They were saved. She is happy in heaven. I pray you will find God."

Attorney Joseph Willie II, who represented Ramey, said after the trial that he would handle the appeals process, which is automatic with the death sentence.

ARGUING THEIR CASE

Prior to this verdict, defense and prosecuting attorneys summed up their cases in attempts to persuade the jury. Defense attorneys were asking for life in prison while prosecutors wanted the death penalty.

Jackson County District Attorney Bobby Bell placed a framed photo of Peacock and Roberts on a table near the jury.

"I think it is right that you remember those folks," Bell said. "These are the people that aren't here to speak. These are the people that won't have any wedding plans."

Bell recounted briefly the horrific scene inside the home and the details of how prosecutors said the killings occurred when Ramey and LeJames Norman, who is awaiting trial, forced their way into the home.

"He put the gun on Celso Lopez's head. Can you imagine what was going through his head knowing death is seconds away," Bell said. "What did (Ramey) say to LeJames Norman prior to the robbery? 'If someone gets out of line, I'm going to pop them.' That is his heart. That tells you what his actions will be."

Eli Garza, first assistant district attorney in Victoria who assisted Bell in the trial, said that the crime was not simply a botched robbery. "It was an execution," he said. "If it was a robbery gone bad, Celso would have come over here and told you about the wound to his cheek. Sam and Tiffani would have told you how scared they were."

Garza approached the jury box standing within a few feet of their chairs.

"Imagine being this close as he pulled the trigger," Garza said. "Imagine going up to a girl that is laying down and you put the muzzle up to her temple so hard it bruises it.

"Does that sound like someone insensitive to someone's feelings? Does that
sound like someone insensitive to someone's rights?"

Defense attorneys maintained their stance that it wasn't Ramey who shot the three people but instead it was Norman.

"We recognize that a decision has been made by this jury and Kersean Ramey has been found guilty," said James Evans III, who represented Ramey.

Evans pointed to physiological reports from Ramey's youth as a reason for the jury to rule that there are mitigating circumstances that should prevent his execution and reduce his "blameworthiness."

Evans held up the evaluation from when Ramey was about 5 years old.

"What we attempted to show is he had a problem," Evans said as he picked up other, later evaluations. "He was being disciplined at school but not at home."

"You will find that Mr. Ramey was suffering from moderate emotional disorder," Evans said. "He was inconsiderate or insensitive to the rights and feelings of others ... He was resistant to authorit y... He was impulsive."

"We are still looking at an 8-, 9- and 11-year-old kid ... He sees the world as a dangerous place ... He feels the need to be cautious of himself," Evans said.

"The defense's theory is that this child, 8 and 9 years old, never received the kind of assistance or attention he needed to succeed in life."

Evans did not place the blame upon the school system, which he said helped with dyslexia training and ensuring that he stayed on his medication.

"The Victoria Independent School District did what it could to help Kersean Ramey," Evans said of the time Ramey attended Victoria schools. Instead, Evans put blame partly, as least, on a lack of morals and a rough family life.

"He didn't get any help about the world being a dangerous place," Evans said. "He didn't get any help with his emotional problems."

"No single fact or circumstance would cause a person to be involved in this triple murder."

Evans said it was everything combined that led him down his path, which early testimony included not only the triple killing but also a school break-in and 4 home burglaries.

"Just maybe if he had counseling ... had he gotten help with those problems ... perhaps he would not have been involved in the school burglary," Evans said. "Much of this is not his fault. Each of us have been given the power of choice by a divine being ... but there are those of us in our society that need help in those decisions."

Bell said Ramey received counseling after his assault conviction that stemmed from the sexual assault of a 7-year-old boy when Ramey was 16.

Referring to prior testimony of one youth, Bell said, "All he could do as the tears ran down his cheek was shake. He spoke, 'This will be with me the rest of my life.'"

"That is serious mitigating circumstances that scarred those kids for the rest of their lives."

Bell also said that Ramey's evaluations did not carry enough weight to overpower what he did the night of Aug. 24, 2005.

"On the basis of that diagnosis ... you are supposed to reduce blameworthiness," Bell said. "That is not reducing blameworthiness. That is shifting blameworthiness."

Last pleas

Willie, defense co-council, went over the evidence, including a stabbing tool found in Ramey's Jackson County cell, presented during the 3 days of testimony in the sentencing phase.

He pointed out that no one testified to seeing Ramey make the weapon.

"In assessing his moral blameworthiness ... we are not making excuses but mitigating circumstances are what they are," Willie said. "We believe in this case there has been no proof he will be a danger to society."

But Bell disagreed, reminding jurors of an expert's testimony who said that Ramey's past as that of someone who would continue down an unlawful path.

Bell pleaded with the jury for a death sentence.

"If he gets life, I pity the people who come in front of him," Bell said. "He is going to kill and destroy without a moment's notice ... He doesn't give a 2nd thought to stealing and killing.

"If he gets the death penalty, then you are sending him to the highest security level (prison)."

  

Kersean Ramey