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TEXAS (USA): KILLER IN '95 HOUSTON AMBUSH EXECUTED
September 22, 2009: Christopher Coleman, 37, black, was executed in Texas. He was 1 of 3 men convicted in connection with a drug-related shootings on Dec. 14, 1995 that claimed 3 lives.
The victims were: 3-year-old Danny Giraldo, Hurtado Heinar Prado and Jose Garcia.
A woman, the mother of the child, was injured in the attack, but survived to identify Coleman as the shooter.
Lawyers for Coleman appealed his conviction in vain, claiming that the woman lied in her testimony and raised questions about her involvement in the drug deal and her relationship with one of the men killed in the shooting.
While Coleman acknowledged being present at the murders, he denied being the shooter.
Coleman becomes the 18th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas, the 441st overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982, the 39th condemned individuals to be put to death this year in the USA, and the 1175th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (Sources: Afp, Houston Chronicle & Rick Halperin, 22/09/2009)
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