Timothy Wayne Adams

Case overview

Timothy Wayne Adams was a Black male who was executed by lethal injection in Texas on February 22, 2011.

Adams was convicted of capital murder for twice shooting his son, Timothy Jr., during a police standoff at the family’s apartment in Houston, Texas. The child was nineteen-months old and died from two bullet wounds to his chest.

Adams and Emma Adams were married in March 2000. In July, they had a son named Tim. The offense involved Adams shooting his son after an incident in which Emma tried to move out after discovering Adams was keeping a gun in their apartment.

Timeline

March 2000 — Timothy Wayne Adams and Emma Adams married. July 2000 — Adams and Emma had a son, Tim. Friday, February 15, 2002 — Emma discovered Adams was keeping a gun in their apartment and decided to move out. February 20, 2002 — Adams shot and killed his son after a standoff with police at the apartment in Houston, Texas. May 1, 2002 — A Harris County grand jury indicted Adams for capital murder. March 2003 — A Harris County jury convicted Adams of capital murder. March 18, 2003 — The 182nd District Court of Harris County sentenced Adams to death. October 8, 2004 — Adams filed an original application for a state writ of habeas corpus. November 17, 2004 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Adams’s conviction on automatic direct appeal. April 25, 2007 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Adams’s request for habeas relief. April 21, 2008 — Adams filed a petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus. February 13, 2009 — A Houston U.S. district court denied habeas relief and issued final judgment. March 9, 2010 — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of habeas relief. October 4, 2010 — The Supreme Court denied Adams’s petition for certiorari review. October 27, 2010 — Harris County District Court scheduled Adams’s execution for Tuesday, February 22, 2011. Tuesday, February 22, 2011 — Adams was executed by lethal injection in Texas.

Background

Adams and Emma Adams married in March 2000. Emma had two children: Tim with Adams and Andrew, 13, from a previous relationship.

At the time of the offense, Adams lived in an apartment in Houston, Texas with Emma and their son Tim, and with Emma’s 13-year-old son Andrew. Adams was employed as a clerk and laborer and had education described as 12 years. He had prior prison record: none.

The clemency materials also stated that Adams was an army veteran with no criminal history, not even an arrest, until he killed his son in 2002.

Adams’s relatives included his parents Columbus and Wilma Adams, and his siblings brother and sister. His brother was named Chadrick Adams. His employer was referred to as Ms. Garcia.

A person referred to as Karen Farr was Emma’s friend and was connected to calls during the hostage stand-off.

The offence

On February 15, 2002, when Emma discovered Adams was keeping a gun in the apartment, she decided to move out. Emma later returned with her child Tim and her older son Andrew to remove belongings.

On February 20, 2002, Andrew arrived at the apartment before Emma and Tim. Adams came up behind Andrew with a gun in his hand. Adams pointed the gun at Andrew and said, “I should shoot you now.” Adams ordered Andrew to sit on the floor and accused Andrew of stealing videotapes. Adams angrily asked why Emma was “doing this” to him and told Andrew that Emma was “going to pay.”

While waiting for Emma to arrive, Adams wrote a note to Emma and read it aloud to Andrew. The note’s first page stated:

Look what you and your selfish pride did. You thought I was playing. Now you see I whaten. Don't ever tell me what I can't do with my own child. You wish you had let me spend time alone with my child now. You wish you had been calling our son Tim Jr. now. You wish you had not called me those names now. You wished you had washed my clothes and fixed me something to eat now.

The note’s second page stated:

You will never forget this will you Bitch! You wish you had just been a wife now don't you. You should of never tried to take my son away from me. I told you Bitch! I hate you to! You should of loved your husband Bitch

Adams watched out of the window for Emma and hid behind the front door when she came in carrying the year-and-a-half-old Tim. Emma put Tim down on the floor and asked Adams what was going on. Adams picked up Tim. Adams told Emma Andrew had confessed to stealing from him and yelled at Andrew to tell Emma the truth. Emma asked Adams why he was doing this; Adams continued yelling and pointing the gun.

Emma picked up the phone and called 9-1-1. Adams yelled at Emma to put the phone down, but she continued to talk with the 9-1-1 operator. Adams pointed his gun at Emma and fired a shot that grazed her back. Emma dropped the phone, and she and Andrew ran for the door.

Andrew returned a couple of minutes later and pounded on the door, begging Adams to hand over Tim. Adams did not answer the door.

While police were dispatched, including a S.W.A.T. team, Adams was seen looking out of the apartment window holding Tim on one arm and a gun in the other hand. A witness standing outside of Adams’s apartment saw Adams hit Tim on the head with the butt of the gun.

During the standoff, Adams had numerous phone conversations with friends, relatives, co-workers, and police officers. Adams told Officer Gordon Michael Garrett, a volunteer member of the hostage negotiation team, that he had killed Tim an hour earlier. Garrett talked Adams through a surrender plan, and twenty minutes later Adams surrendered.

After police entered the apartment, they found Tim dead on the floor. The child died from two bullet wounds to his chest. A medical examiner testified that the gun either had been close or against the child’s skin when the shots were fired. Both bullets passed through the child’s body and exited out the lower back in one account, and both bullets went completely through his body in another account.

After Adams surrendered, Sergeant James Lee Ramsey testified that Adams gave a tape-recorded statement after his surrender. The tape was admitted into evidence and played for the jury.

Investigation and arrest

Police officers, including a S.W.A.T. team, were dispatched to the apartment complex during the standoff. Adams could be seen looking out of the apartment window, holding Tim and a gun.

Houston Police Officer Gordon Michael Garrett was described as being at the apartment complex talking to Adams’s employer, Ms. Garcia, when Garrett received a call from Adams at around 7:25 p.m. Garrett talked Adams through a surrender plan. Adams surrendered about twenty minutes later.

Trial

A Harris County jury convicted Adams of capital murder in March 2003. At sentencing, the jury considered punishment under Texas’s future dangerousness framework set out in Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 37.071, sections 2(b) and 2(e). The trial judge sentenced Adams to death on March 18, 2003.

Sentencing

The 182nd District Court of Harris County sentenced Adams to death on March 18, 2003.

Appeals

Adams filed a state writ of habeas corpus on October 8, 2004. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Adams’s conviction on automatic direct appeal on November 17, 2004. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied Adams’s request for habeas relief on April 25, 2007.

Adams filed a petition for a federal writ of habeas corpus on April 21, 2008. On February 13, 2009, a Houston U.S. On March 9, 2010, the U.S. On October 4, 2010, the Supreme Court denied Adams’s petition for certiorari review.

A federal court later rejected an appeal in a brief order, stating Adams failed to show his constitutional rights were violated at his trial.

Outcome

Adams was executed by lethal injection in Texas on February 22, 2011.

During the execution, Adams had mouthed some words to his parents and brother and sister who witnessed the execution. Adams declined to make a final statement. Emma Adams and her family watched from a different room. After the lethal injection took effect, Adams let out a series of gasps and was pronounced dead at 6:31 p.m. CST.

Other details

Prior record and personal details

Adams had no previous prison record, stated as “None.” Clemeny materials also described him as having no criminal history and no arrest prior to 2002.

Adams’s education was described as 12 years. His occupation was described as clerk and laborer.

Family and relationships mentioned

Emma Adams was the toddler’s mother. Andrew was Emma’s 13-year-old son from a previous relationship.

Wilma Adams was described as the condemned inmate’s mother. Columbus Adams was described as the father of Tim Adams.

Chadrick Adams was described as Adams’s brother and as a teacher in Houston.

Testimony and statements in the punishment phase

Adams’s tape-recorded statement included him saying his “snapped” at the time Emma picked up the phone to call 9-1-1, and that he later shot Tim twice in the chest as he was holding him.

Adams told investigators: “My wife was hurtin’ me, she was keeping him away from me. I was gonna take him out and me too.” In another account he explained: “Cause I didn't want him, gonna raise him to teach him don't love your Daddy, he was this and he was that.” He also said: “She was gonna do that. My parents couldn't even see my son, my Mother, my Daddy.” He said Emma would “change it all around” and added: “She knows what she did. She know what she did.”

Adams also explained in the punishment phase that he shot Tim a second time when he did not die after the first shot.

Adams testified that after shooting at Emma, the gun jammed. By the time he managed to get it unjammed, Emma had run from the apartment and down the stairs. Adams testified that he decided to kill himself and Tim because otherwise he would go to prison and Emma would be successful in separating him from him and not letting him love him and him love him. He further explained: “She was not going to get a chance to hurt me or my son anymore, she wasn't going to keep us apart, she wasn't going to teach him not to love me, and me, I couldn't love him.”

Emma testified in the punishment phase that Adams was very suspicious and jealous, accused her of seeing other men, and told her he had followed her to see if she was meeting anyone. Emma testified that he once told her he was hoping to catch her with another man so he could kill them “right then and there.” Emma testified that on the evening of Valentine’s Day 2001, Adams listened in on a phone conversation between Emma and a male co-worker, and after the phone call Adams screamed at Emma and beat her on her head with his fists. Emma also testified that Adams told her that if she ever left him, she would never see Tim again, and that “no man would ever raise his child and she wouldn't raise him either.”

Karen Farr testified at punishment that in the months before the offense she talked often with both Emma and Adams separately about their marital problems, and Adams told her about two movies he had watched in which the plot was that a man murdered his wife and did not get caught.

Testimony at punishment included witnesses who stated they knew Adams from work and that he was an excellent employee, a proud father, and a nice and caring person, and they were shocked to hear of the charges against him and did not believe he would be a future danger.

The mother of Adams’s 15-year-old son testified that she had known Adams for nineteen years, lived with him for about a year after he returned from service, was surprised about the charges, and had never had disagreements with Adams over their son.

Adams testified that he purchased a handgun about month before the offense, and put a rifle in “lay-away.” He stated he planned to use both weapons for hunting in the fall. On cross-examination he admitted his gun was fully loaded with eleven bullets on the day of the offense and that he took the gun to work with him on the day before and the day of the offense so that Emma would not remove it from the apartment. He admitted he shot Tim a second time when Tim did not die after the first shot. He also agreed that after shooting Tim he wrote the second page of the note to Emma.