An Alabama inmate scheduled to be put to death Thursday [today] by lethal injection for the shooting death of his friend’s father has advised young people to take a pause before making life-altering mistakes.
Casey McWhorter was slightly over 18 years old when he shot 34-year-old Edward Lee Williams, who was his friend’s dad.
McWhorter had conspired with Edwards’ 15-year-old son Lee Jr, and a 16-year-old Daniel Miner to steal money and other items from Williams’ home and then kill him. The three young boys did exactly as planned.
That was over 30 years ago, specifically on February 18, 1993.
Talking about his state of mind at the time, McWhorter said, “I was a very confused kid. I had some issues going on in my head that I didn’t know how to fix, and the only way I knew to feel acceptance was doing some of the stupid stuff I was doing with the people I was doing it with. I felt like they were family at that point.”
He added that he would encourage young people going through difficult times to take a moment before making a life-altering mistake like he did.
“Anything that comes across them that just doesn’t sit well at first, take a few seconds to think that through; because one bad choice, one stupid mistake, one dumb decision can alter your life — and those that you care about — forever,” McWhorter said as he faces his execution today.
He acknowledged that he participated in the crime, and that he fired first. Although, he maintained he did not fire the final shots. Lawyers for Miner in a 2016 appeal maintained that McWhorter did the shooting.
Today, the American state of Alabama is scheduled to execute Casey McWhorter, 49, for the crime.
The jury that convicted McWhorter recommended a death sentence by a vote of 10-2, which a judge, who had the final decision, imposed, according to court records. The younger teens Edward Lee Williams Jr. and Daniel Miner, who was 16, were sentenced to life in prison, according to court records.
Prosecutors said McWhorter and Miner went to Williams’ home with rifles and fashioned home-made silencers from a pillow and a milk jug.
When Williams arrived home and discovered the teens, he grabbed the rifle held by the 16-year-old, they began to struggle over it and then McWhorter fired the first shot at Williams, according to a summary of the crime in court filings.
Williams was shot a total of 11 times, according to court records.
