Edward Lagrone

Edward Lewis Lagrone (March 3, 1957 – February 11, 2004) was an American serial killer and rapist. He was convicted of fatally shooting three members of the Lloyd family in Fort Worth, Texas in May 1991, including a 10-year-old girl he had impregnated, approximately seven years after being released from prison for a previous murder. Lagrone was subsequently convicted, sentenced to death and executed for the latter crimes in 2004.

Early life and crimes Edward Lewis Lagrone was born on March 3, 1957, in Fort Worth, Texas, one of several children born in a large family. He grew up in a housing project in the southeastern part of the city and studied up until the 10th grade, when he dropped out of school. On October 3, 1976, he got into an argument with an acquaintance, Michael Anthony Jones, outside the Lucky Lady Lounge, whereupon the two got into a fight. Eventually, Lagrone pulled out a .38 caliber revolver and shot Jones in the head before proceeding to fire the remaining shots into his body. He was arrested and charged with the murder shortly afterwards, but claimed that he was innocent.

Nevertheless, he waived his right to a jury trial and was subsequently convicted for the murder, for which he was given a 20-year prison sentence. His only notable arrests in the following years were two arrests for possession of crack cocaine, in October 1990 and February 1991. Upon learning this, Shakeisha revealed that Lagrone had repeatedly been raping her for the past year, whereupon all family members cut off contact with him and filed a complaint for sexual assault. To avoid prosecution, Lagrone attempted to bribe Pamela to drop the charges in exchange for $1,500, but she categorically refused. There she purchased two Winchester Model 1300 12 gauge pump action shotguns with her ID card, as he could not legally acquire firearms on his own as a convicted felon. In the meantime, Dempsey, Pamela, and the remaining children managed to escape the apartment and called the police. By their arrival, Lagrone had managed to flee but was soon arrested at his girlfriend's apartment in Arlington. He was then incarcerated at the Tarrant County Jail on a combined bail of $3.45 million – one from his previous sexual assault charge and the other from the murder charges.

Trial, sentence, and imprisonment In the aftermath of his arrest, Lagrone denied any connection to the murders, claiming that he had never impregnated Shakeisha. Both prosecutors and his attorneys offered for paternity tests to be conducted, with the results confirming with 99.9% certainty that he was the father of the unborn fetus. Despite this revelation, Lagrone's attorney claimed that this did not necessarily indicate that his client was guilty of murder, and requested that all physical evidence recovered from the crime scene undergo independent tests. This was backed up by Dempsey Lloyd, one of the surviving victims, who confirmed that Lagrone was indeed the shooter – upon hearing this, Lagrone snapped and accused him of lying, claiming that they had never seen each other before. His attorney also attempted to convince the jury that the witness testimonies were either contradictory or inconsistent and that Pamela Lloyd named his client as the shooter to put him away for good.

During the trial, two of Lagrone's sisters testified against him, claiming that he had sexually assaulted them at gunpoint at the campus of Sunrise Elementary School in 1986. Neither reported the crime because Lagrone had threatened to burn their house down. Due to the abundant evidence presented against him, Lagrone was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to death.

His last words were the following: "I just want to say I'm not sad today. I'm not bitter with anyone. As I've said from day one, I didn't go in there and kill them, but I'm no better than the people that did. Jesus is Lord."

He is buried at Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery.