Coleman Executed
Killer dies by injection; others seek Brown's death

 
BY LIZA BERGER
KENOSHA NEWS

LUCASVILLE, Ohio -- Alton Coleman stepped onto the execution bed wearing a prayer shawl. A few minutes later he died reciting a psalm.

Coleman, who was convicted of killing seven people during a crime spree in 1984, appeared at peace with his fate prior to his execution Friday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility here. The time of death was 9:13 a.m. (Kenosha time).

More than 15 relatives of Coleman's victims came to watch the execution, including Juanita Wheat, mother of 9year-old Kenosha victim Vernita, who watched it along with most of the victims' families on closed circuit television near the death house.

Coleman, 46, died only minutes after walking into the death chamber. Clad in sneakers, navy blue pants with orange stripes and a colorful prayer shawl, he walked in accompanied by guards at seven minutes past the hour. He then stepped onto the white gurney, glanced twice toward the room in the death chamber where the witnesses were, and laid down, his arms outstretched.

After he was strapped down the warden asked him for his last words. He began to recite the 23rd Psalm, saying, ``The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want '85''

The warden took the microphone away as Coleman continued to recite the same words over and over to himself. He clenched and unclenched his fists, one witness in the death house said. Then, as he began to fall asleep -- due to the chemical sodium pentathol -- he started speaking more slowly.

Then as the lethal chemicals took their effect, his chest started falling rapidly and then stopped.

He took eight or nine breaths and then stopped. His mouth fell slightly open and his eyes were open.
His head rested turned to one side on the table.

Juanita Wheat said Coleman's death closes the book on an event that has haunted her family for more than 17 years.

``It's over,'' Juanita said. ``We can get justice and peace finally. Thank God for that.''

The execution itself was calm, an event that surprised many of those who witnessed the procedure -- lacking any emotion from Coleman or the families of his victims who watched.

He did not put up a fight prior to the procedure.

``It was extremely calm. It was extremely peaceful,'' aid Bridget Doherty, a reporter from a radio station in Cincinnati who was one of a handful of people inside the death house for the execution.

Andrea Dean, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, said Coleman's emotions were much the same throughout the morning, saying he was ``as content as one can be while waiting to die.''

Coleman watched some religious videos on a TV in his holding cell Thursday night. He was up most of the night and slept between 4 and 5 a.m., Dean said.

He also talked to his sister late Thursday night. His siblings did not come to the execution because of transportation issues, Dean said. They saw him recently at the prison in Mansfield, Ohio.

Just before the execution he visited with attorneys, then took a shower.

Coleman did not choose to eat breakfast Friday morning because he was still full from his last meal, which he nibbled on during the night. The meal included steak, fried chicken breasts, dressing, onion rings, collard greens, sweet potato pie with whipped cream and Cherry Coke.

Coleman' past was hardly so calm and content. In 1984 he and accomplice Debra Denise Brown went on a killing rampage through six Midwestern states starting May 29 with the abduction and murder of Vernita. He was arrested at the end of July.

Together, they killed at least seven people and committed at least 20 assaults, kidnappings and break-ins. Friday' execution was for the death of Marlene Walters of suburban Cincinnati.

Coleman has been on death row since 1985 when he was convicted of killing Walters. He received two more life sentences -- in Indiana and Illinois -- one for the murder of Vernita Wheat, whose body was found in Waukegan, Ill.

Now, Mary Hilliard, grandmother of 7-year-old slain Tamika Turks of Indiana, said she wants to see Brown executed.

``One chapter has been closed,'' she said. ``Another chapter is Debra Brown.''

Brown is currently serving a life term in prison in Ohio that was commuted from a death sentence. She also has a death sentence in Indiana.

Coleman was the fourth person in Ohio to be executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1981. He was the 21st person to die in the United States this year.
His body will be taken to Illinois for burial, Dean said.

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First-person perspectives

* Liza Berger was assigned the daunting task of watching and writing about the death of another human being, as she was sent to Lucasville, Ohio, to witness and cover the Alton Coleman execution. Page A5.
* Dave Engels was just two days removed from his honeymoon in 1984 when he heard of Vernita Wheat's abduction. The coverage of that story and the chase of Alton Coleman were things Engels will never forget. Today, he recalls that hectic period and writes his final word in the Alton Coleman story. Page A5.