Bio

Jeffrey Dean Motley was born on September 17, 1965. He lived in the Pasadena, Texas area and had a ninth-grade education. Before the murder, Motley had already been convicted of burglary. At the time Maria Adilia Duran was killed, he was on parole after serving part of a five-year burglary sentence. He was 18 years old when the crime happened.

Murder Story

On the morning of July 22, 1984, Maria Adilia Duran left her Houston-area home to go swimming with a friend. She never arrived. Her family reported her missing, and police began investigating her disappearance. Investigators later determined that Motley had abducted Duran at gunpoint during a robbery. Reports state that he forced her to withdraw $300 from a Harris County bank. Evidence also showed that he later possessed property belonging to Duran, including her car and personal items.

Seven days after Duran disappeared, police arrested Motley on July 29, 1984, while he was driving her car. Officers searched the vehicle and found a sawed-off shotgun, shotgun shells, and a hunting knife. They also found traces of human blood on the spare tire in the trunk and on one of Motley’s shoes. Duran’s credit cards, driver’s license, Social Security card, and checkbook were later found in a trash bin near the apartment complex where Motley was living.

On August 1, 1984, police found Duran’s body in a field. The medical examiner determined that she had died from a gunshot wound to the back. Court records noted signs suggesting possible sexual assault, but the evidence was ultimately treated as inconclusive. Motley was tried for capital murder in Harris County, Texas. On January 29, 1985, a jury convicted him of capital murder. Two days later, on January 31, 1985, the jury sentenced him to death by lethal injection.

His conviction and death sentence were affirmed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on April 5, 1989. The court identified him as Jeffery Dean Motley and confirmed that he had been convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Motley continued appealing his case in federal court. On April 1, 1994, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied habeas relief and affirmed the lower court’s decision. Jeffrey Dean Motley was executed by lethal injection in Texas on February 7, 1995.