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Background

In 1994, 17-year-old Napoleon Beazley was the president of his class; he ran track, played baseball, competed in weightlifting, and planned to join the Marines after high school.

His father was a steelworker and city councilman, and his mother was a judge’s secretary.

His life looked normal to everyone around him, but he had a secret life. He sold crack since he was 13 and carried guns.

Crime

On April 18th, 1994, Beazley and his friend Cedric Coleman drove from their hometown in Grapeland, Texas, to Corsicana, Texas, 78 miles away.

Cedric was trying to meet girls at Corsicana College, but Beazley had a 45-caliber pistol on him and kept talking about stealing a car. Cedric talked him into waiting the next day.

On April 19th, 1994, Beazley bragged to his friends that he would be driving a Mercedes-Benz soon.

Later that night, Beazley borrowed his mother’s car and picked up Cedric and Cedric’s brother Donald.

Once again, Beazley had his pistol, and he also had a sawed-off shotgun. He and his buddies drove from Grapeland to Corsicana.

After stopping at a Walmart, they saw a Lexus they wanted to carjack. They followed the vehicle for 71 miles to Tyler, Texas, but they lost it. They pulled over outside a restaurant and were about to carjack a Mercedes-Benz, but the driver saw Beazley with a gun and ran back inside the restaurant.

They were about to give up and return to Grapeland, but decided to look for one more car. Soon, they spotted a yellow 1987 Mercedes-Benz driven by 63-year-old John Luttig, a Korean War veteran whose son was a respected Judge.

His wife, Bobbie, was in the passenger seat. As the couple pulled into the driveway of their Tyler, Texas, home, Beazley ran up with the pistol while Donald followed with the shotgun.

Beazley shot John in the head. He was alive but stunned. Beazley went to the passenger side and shot at Bobbie. She wasn’t hit but fell to the ground.

Realizing John was still alive, Beazley returned to the driver’s side of the car and shot John in the head a second time. Beazley asked Donald if Bobbie was still alive, and Donald told him she was still moving. Beazley wanted Donald to shoot her, but he refused.

Beazley was going to shoot her a second time, but Donald stopped him by recanting his previous statement and saying she was dead.

Beazley went through John’s pockets and got the keys to the Mercedes. As he backed out, he crashed the car into a wall. He drove the vehicle for a few blocks before leaving it behind and rejoining the Colemans, who followed in his mother’s car.

The teens returned to Grapeland after the senseless crime.

Beazley threatened his accomplices not to tell anyone about the crime, or he would kill them too. However, Beazley didn’t follow his own advice to keep quiet and told a friend what he and the Coleman brothers had done.

The three teens were arrested two months after the crime.

Legal proceedings

The Colemans pleaded guilty to federal and state charges. They also testified against Beazley at his trial. Both received life sentences.

Donald remains incarcerated and will be eligible for parole in 2034, while Cedric is not listed on the Texas inmate search, meaning he could be free, dead, or out of state.

Beazley went to trial in 1995. With the Colemans and Mrs Luttig testifying against him, there was no way he could beat the case. He was found guilty of capital murder on March 13th, 1995. He was sentenced to death at a later hearing.

Execution

When his death date came on May 28th, 2002, the 25-year-old did not have a final meal. He was marched to the execution chamber, where the warden asked if he wanted to make a final statement, but he looked directly at his victim’s daughter and said “no”.

His body was injected with poison, and he was pronounced dead at 6:17 pm.

A statement was released to the public after his execution in which he apologized for his actions, but also bashed the justice system for not letting him live.

His final words in that statement were, ” No one wins tonight. No one gets closure. No one walks away victorious.”