John Louis Evans III was born on January 4, 1950, in Beaumont, Texas. 

After being released from an Indiana prison in 1976, John Louis Evans III and fellow convict Wayne Ritter went on a crime spree. They committed over thirty armed robberies, nine kidnappings, and two extortion schemes across seven states. On January 5, 1977, Evans and Ritter robbed a pawn shop in Mobile, Alabama. During the robbery, they killed the owner, Edward Nassar, while his two daughters were present in the store.

The FBI captured Evans and Ritter on March 7, 1977, in Little Rock, Arkansas. Law enforcement found the gun that killed Nassar and another gun that was stolen from the pawn shop. Although Evans confessed to the crime, prosecutors wanted a death sentence. This meant he had to be tried by a jury.

Evans's trial began on April 26, 1977. He admitted to the murder and showed no remorse. He even threatened the jury, saying he would kill them if they did not give him the death penalty. The jury deliberated for less than fifteen minutes and convicted him of capital murder. They sentenced him to death.

Evans's death sentence was confirmed by higher courts. The Alabama Supreme Court scheduled his execution for April 6, 1979. However, his mother filed a petition in federal court, arguing that his conviction was unconstitutional. Initially, the lower court dismissed her appeal, but the appeals court later judged the conviction invalid. In 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed that decision and upheld Evans's death penalty.

Evans chose to stop his appeals and was executed on April 22, 1983, at Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama. His execution was carried out using an electric chair known as "Yellow Mama," which had not been used since 1965. The execution process was imprecise and lasted 24 minutes. Doctors confirmed that Evans was alive after the first two jolts of electricity. Finally, after a third jolt, he was pronounced dead at 8:44 p.m.

Shortly before his execution, Evans participated in a program called "Dead Wrong," where he shared his experiences with young people to warn them against making similar mistakes.