Alvin Aven Braziel Jr., convicted of murdering a newlywed husband and Sєxually ᴀssaulting his wife on a Texas college jogging trail 25 years ago, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening at the Walls Unit in Huntsville, becoming the 13th and final inmate put to death in the state in 2018.
Braziel, 43, spent more than 17 years on death row for the September 21, 1993, attack at Eastfield College in Mesquite, a quiet Dallas suburb. The victim, Douglas White, was 27 and had been married to his wife Laura for just 10 days.
The couple had taken an after-dinner stroll along the campus jogging trail around 8:45 p. m. when an 18-year-old Braziel emerged from bushes, armed with a pistol, and demanded money.
The Whites truthfully said they had none but offered to walk to their truck to find cash.
Braziel became agitated and ordered them to the ground. Douglas began to pray aloud, asking God to forgive them. Braziel kicked him and sneered, “Yeah, you better pray,” then asked, “Where is your God at now?”
before pressing the gun to Douglas’s head and firing.
Douglas cried out but was not ᴅᴇᴀᴅ. Braziel pulled him up, shoved the gun under his chest, and fired again. The bullet tore through his heart.
Douglas’s last words were a plea for his wife: “Please God, don’t let him hurt Laura.”
Braziel then Sєxually ᴀssaulted Laura at gunpoint in the nearby bushes for 10 to 20 minutes, telling her afterward that she had “done real good” and that was why he would let her live. He disappeared into the night.
Laura White reported the attack immediately and provided a detailed description to police. A sketch was circulated, but the case went cold for seven years. Detective Michael Bradshaw interrogated more than 40 potential suspects, but none matched.
In 1996, Braziel Sєxually ᴀssaulted a 15-year-old girl and was sentenced to five years in prison. His DNA was collected and entered into the state database. In January 2001, a cold case hit matched that DNA to evidence from Laura White’s rape kit.
Laura White identified Braziel from a pH๏τo lineup without hesitation, later saying it felt like “someone was squeezing my heart.” He was charged with capital murder.
At his 2001 trial, Laura testified, breaking down in uncontrollable sobs after prosecutor George West showed her an autopsy pH๏τo of her husband. Defense attorneys moved for a mistrial, claiming the prosecutor deliberately provoked the outburst. The judge denied the motion.
Years later, co-counsel Tom DeLay alleged West muttered “Watch this” before showing the pH๏τo, a claim that emerged only on the day of Braziel’s execution.
Braziel took the stand in his own defense, denying involvement. The jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to death on July 26, 2001.
His appellate attorneys raised multiple claims: ineffective ᴀssistance of counsel for failing to present mitigating evidence of 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮, head injury, and mental illness; prosecutorial misconduct regarding the lineup and withheld evidence; and intellectual disability. All appeals were rejected by state and federal courts, including the U. S.
Supreme Court in 2016.
Clemency was denied unanimously by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on the Friday before the execution.
Laura White did not attend the execution. She had made her peace, telling Detective Bradshaw she had prayed for Braziel and his family, and hoped he had accepted Jesus Christ and asked forgiveness for his crimes.
Braziel’s final statement, delivered from the gurney, was brief: “Yes, sir. I would like to thank the Shape Community Center for all their support. I would like to thank all those overseas, Italy and France, for their support for the death row prisoners.
I would also like to apologize to Lori for the second time for her husband dying at my hand. To the White family and to Tashel for not being there. I love you.
I’m finished, Warden. You may proceed.”
He mispronounced Laura’s name and did not mention the Sєxual ᴀssault. He admitted that Douglas White “died at my hand,” reversing years of denial.
The lethal injection of pentobarbital began at 7:10 p. m. Braziel took a few breaths, gasped, then began to snore heavily.
The fourth snore was noticeably weaker, and all movement stopped. He was pronounced ᴅᴇᴀᴅ at 7:19 p. m.
, nine minutes after the 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 was administered.
No family members or friends witnessed the execution for Braziel. Douglas White’s brother and two friends watched from the other side of the glᴀss. They declined to speak to the media.
Outside the Walls Unit, a small group of death penalty opponents protested, shouting support for Braziel as the clock ticked toward his death.
Douglas White was an electrician at a chiropractic college. His final words were a prayer for the woman he loved. Laura White survived, rebuilt her life, and found the strength to forgive the man who murdered her husband and violated her.
Detective Bradshaw, who worked the case for seven years and interviewed more than 40 suspects, said Laura’s faith and resilience were extraordinary.
Texas has executed 559 inmates since reinstating the death penalty in 1976, more than any other state. Braziel was the 24th person executed in the United States in 2018.
The revelation of the “Watch this” comment by prosecutor George West, if true, raised serious questions about trial conduct, but it came too late to stop the execution. Judge Elsa Alcala, dissenting from the denial of a stay, wrote that it was “wholly unrealistic” to expect defense lawyers to resolve such serious allegations in hours, and noted that a death sentence is irreversible.
The Texas Attorney General’s office declined to comment on the allegation, saying the matter had been fully litigated.
Alvin Braziel’s journey from an 18-year-old hiding in the bushes to a 43-year-old strapped to a gurney took 25 years. In the end, Laura White’s prayer was the only mercy he received.