A man who killed his mother nearly two decades ago and buried her body in her backyard was put to death on Wednesday in Texas. His lawyers had unsuccessfully tried to appeal the death penalty, citing his history of mental illness.
Tracy Beatty, 61, was killed using lethal injection at the Huntsville State Penitentiary. Beatty was convicted of first-degree murder for strangling his mother to death after they argued in 2003. He was pronounced dead at 6:39 pm CST. A deadly dose of pentobarbital was administered using needles to the veins in his wrists.
Before the procedure, a chaplain placed his hand on the convict’s chest and prayed for his soul. Beatty was then given a few minutes to make his final statement, and the teary-eyed man, already strapped to the gurney in the death chamber, started to speak to his wife emotionally.
Beatty told his wife that he didn’t want to die and leave her. He then professed his love to her in a broken voice and blew her a kiss. Beatty also thanked his fellow inmates on death row and said he would see them on the other side.
The physician then administered the powerful sedative. As it began to take effect, he took two deep breaths, said something unintelligible under his breath, fell asleep, and began to snore. The physician pronounced Beatty dead about 16 minutes later.
According to authorities, Beatty murdered and buried his mother, Carolyn Click, who was 62 at the time, close to her mobile home, and spent her money on alcohol and drugs. On the day he killed her, he had come home drunk, and they started fighting, and then he strangled her. He told the police that he did not realize he had killed his mother until the next day.
A neighbor, Lieanna Wilkerson, testified in court that Click had confided in her the day Beatty killed her that she had asked her son to move out of the house after a fight.
According to prosecutors, Beatty and his mother had a volatile and violent relationship. Wilkerson said that Click had told her that Beatty had severely beaten her up. Still, in October 2003, Click decided to let Beatty move home, but they kept arguing. She asked Beatty to move out twice before he killed her.
Although Beatty’s lawyers filed an appeal to halt his execution, the Supreme Court denied it.
His lawyers argued that Beatty had not received a complete examination of his mental health to determine if he was of sound mind when he committed the murder and, therefore, ineligible for the death penalty.
Judge Charles Eskridge, a US district judge in Houston, questioned why the lawyers were only now bringing up the mental health claims despite not having raised any concerns throughout years of appeals.
The Death Penalty Information Center states that although the US Supreme Court prevents the death penalty for people with an intellectual disability, it does not bar the punishment for people with serious mental health issues.
Beatty’s execution was the fourth in Texas this year and the 13th in the country. The final execution in Texas for the year 2022 will be next week.
