Bio

Tommie Collins Hughes was born on August 15, 1974. He served in the United States Marine Corps but received a bad-conduct discharge in June 1994 after being convicted by a special court-martial of a drug offense and possessing false identification. By 1997, at age 22, he was involved with a girlfriend named Alina (also recorded as Alicia) Henry, 19, and had a cousin, Derric Dewayne English, also 19.

Murder Story

On August 13, 1997, Tommie Collins Hughes, his cousin Derric English, and Hughes’ girlfriend, Alina Henry, were together in Dallas, Texas. The case centered on a robbery and double shooting outside a movie theater in north Dallas. Police were already conducting an undercover operation in the theater parking lot because the area had recently experienced robberies and burglaries.

Foluke Erinkitola, 25, and Roxanne Mendoza, 29, had gone to the theater and were walking back to their vehicle when Hughes and English approached them. Reports state that Hughes was armed with an automatic pistol. The women were robbed of personal belongings, including purses, wallets, jewelry, cell phones, and pagers.

After the robbery, both women were shot and killed. Associated Press reporting later stated that Hughes shot Erinkitola and Mendoza in the head while they were in the vehicle after watching the movie. During the trial, a cousin testified that Hughes said he killed the women because they could have identified him.

Undercover officers in the area noticed Hughes and another man walking through the theater parking lot. About ten minutes later, they saw both men moving quickly back toward a Mercury Tracer. One of the men appeared to be concealing a large bulge under his shirt. After they entered the car, the driver accelerated out of the parking lot and reached high speeds. Officers soon found the victims and the occupants of the Mercury Tracer became suspects in a double murder and robbery.

Police pursued the vehicle and stopped it at a gas station in south Dallas. Hughes and the other occupants were arrested shortly after the murders. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later ruled that the warrantless arrest was justified because officers had enough information to believe the occupants had just committed a double murder and robbery and were attempting to escape.

Investigators recovered evidence from the vehicle and from the suspects. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals described the evidence as including the murder weapon, ammunition, bloodstained clothing, and stolen property. Execution reports also stated that the murder weapon and stolen items were recovered from the car and that Hughes had blood on his clothing when he was arrested.

Hughes was charged with both killings, but he was tried for the murder of Foluke Erinkitola. His defense attorneys presented no witnesses during the trial. In May 1998, a Dallas County jury convicted Hughes of capital murder and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence on April 12, 2000.

Derric English was tried separately. He was convicted of capital murder and received a prison sentence. Some summaries list his sentence as life, while Associated Press coverage reported that he was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Alina Henry pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in exchange for testimony against both men and received an 11-year sentence.

Hughes continued to deny that he killed the women. In later death-row interviews, he admitted being present but claimed that Henry shot the victims in a jealous rage. Prosecutors rejected that account and maintained that Hughes planned the robbery and shot both women. The courts did not overturn the conviction.

After his direct appeal, Hughes pursued state and federal habeas relief. The Fifth Circuit noted that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence on direct appeal, and that the United States Supreme Court denied review. Hughes later filed state and federal habeas petitions, but the federal district court denied relief, and on June 10, 2005, the Fifth Circuit denied his request for a certificate of appealability.

In March 2006, Hughes’ attorneys also challenged Texas’ lethal-injection procedure. A federal judge, the Fifth Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court all declined to stop the execution. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had also rejected requests to commute his sentence to life or grant a 90-day reprieve.

Tommie Collins Hughes was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas, on March 15, 2006. TDCJ lists him as execution number 360 in Texas since the state resumed executions. He was 31 years old.

His final statement was directed to his family. TDCJ recorded his last words as: “I love my family. You all stay strong. Watch over each other. Stay strong. I love you. I love you. It’s my hour. It’s my hour. I love you. Stay strong.” He was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m., according to execution coverage.