Karla Faye Tucker

Convicted April 19, 1984 for the murders of Jerry Lynn Dean and Deborah Thornton, sentenced to death. Executed via lethal injection February 3, 1998 at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville.

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Garden Salad with Ranch Dressing
Banana
Peach

Tucker is often remembered as the born-again Christian whose execution, the first of a woman in Texas in over 100 years, sparked an international debate, with many supporters requesting her death penalty be commuted to a life sentence. However, many may not recall the crime that led her to death row: the pickax murders of Jerry Dean and Deborah Thornton. Though her partner in crime Danny Garrett died in prison before his execution could be carried out, Tucker spent 14 years on death row, a period in which the former drug-user and prostitute reformed into a model prisoner, embracing religion and working to convert her fellow inmates. She was even married to a member of the prison ministry group (via proxy). The issue of Tucker's religious conversion, whether it was genuine or even relevant, remains a subject of debate. Tucker's last meal of salad and fruit forgoes a final gastronomic pleasure, instead capturing the modesty and humility she worked so hard to portray in her final years.