Louis Jones, Jr.

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For other persons named Louis Jones, see Louis Jones (disambiguation).

Louis Jones, Jr. when he held the rank of Staff Sergeant

Louis Jones, Jr. (March 4, 1950 – March 18, 2003) was a convicted murderer executed by lethal injection by the federal government of the United States. He was convicted of the February 18, 1995, murder of Private Tracie Joy McBride, after kidnapping her from Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. As of 2007, he is the most recent person executed by the federal government.

McBride had been at Goodfellow for only nine days when Jones entered her house around 9 p.m. and kidnapped her at gunpoint, while she was on the telephone. First he took her to his own house and sexually assaulted her. The prosecution then asserts that he forced her to clean herself to remove biological trace evidence. Finally, he drove her to a bridge near San Angelo, Texas and then repeatedly struck her head with a tire iron. The force of the blows was so great that pieces of the skull were missing. As McBride was a federal employee, Jones was prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2) (kidnapping resulting in death) and the prosecution decided to seek the death penalty under the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994.

He was tried in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas and found guilty by a jury. In the separate sentencing phase, the jury found that there existed two aggravating circumstances — McBride died during the commission of another crime; and that the crime was "especially heinous, cruel, and depraved" — and sentenced Jones to death. The case for death penalty was challenged by the civil rights organizations claiming that it would be racist.^{[citation needed]}

Jones had joined the United States Army in 1971 and had served as an Army Airborne Ranger. During the 1983 invasion of Grenada he had lead a platoon during combat jump. Then during the Gulf War he and 130,000 other troops were exposed to sarin nerve agent when a weapons depot was destroyed in Khamisiyah. During his trial he claimed that this exposure had caused brain damage and a change of personality. For his service he was awarded a Commendation Medal for meritorious service. He was honorably discharged from the Army after 22 years in 1993 with the rank of Master Sergeant.

On October 18, 2002 the Supreme Court of the United States refused to block the execution and President George W. Bush also denied clemency.

His last meal consisted of nectarines, peaches and plums. He was escorted into the death chamber at the United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, strapped to a gurney at 7 a.m.. His final statement was:

"Although the Lord hath chastised me forth, he hath not given me over unto death."

After this he began singing the hymn "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross".