Ray Jasper Executed After Saying Goodbye to Daughter
Rapper Ray Jasper was put to death by the state of Texas last night after bidding a final farewell to his family and daughter. Jasper was convicted for the 1998 murder of David Alejandro.
According to reports, Jasper confessed to slitting Alejandro's throat in order to steal equipment from his San Antonio studio, but he also said that two accomplices were responsible for inflicting over 25 stab wounds. His accomplices, Steve Russell and Douglas Williams were spared the death penalty and are both serving life sentences.
"To my family, we are one," Jasper said before being injected with pentobarbital. "To my beautiful daughter, the best thing that ever happened to me, I love you endlessly. I am you and you are me forever," the Texas Department of Criminal Justice reported.
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Unfortunately, no one from Jasper's family was present at the execution to hear his last words. No one from Alejandro's family was present, either.
Jasper became somewhat famous by writing letters from prison that were published on the media site, Gawker. He described what life was like on death row and pointed out what he believed to be inconsistencies in the judicial system, which includes the overwhelming amount of black inmates.
"Under the 13th Amendment of the Constitution, all prisoners in America are considered slaves. We look at slavery like its [sic] a thing of the past, but you can go to any penitentiary in this nation and you will see slavery. People need to know that when they sit on trial juries and sentence people to prison time that they are sentencing them to slavery," Jasper wrote.
He spent 14 years on death row but always maintained his innocence, stating that his accomplices were the ones to actually kill Alejandro.
"I'm on death row and yet I didn't commit the act of murder," Jasper wrote. "I was convicted under the law of parties. The one who killed him plead guilty to capital murder for a life sentence. I was the only one given the death penalty."
Jasper is the third Texas inmate to be put to death this year, and there are five more executions scheduled within the next five weeks in the state.
