78-year-old Carl Wayne Buntion gunned down Houston police officer James Irby during a June traffic stop in 1990. Court records show the car Buntion was a passenger in a car that had heroin and he shot the 37-year-old motorcycle officer as he spoke to the driver and again twice after he collapsed to the ground.
Buntion, who was 46 at the time already had a lengthy criminal history and was out on parole for sexual assault of a child. Irby had been on the force for 18 years.
Irby's son and widow plan on attending the execution. His daughter Cally will go to Huntsville with them but will not witness the execution. "My family is not in this for vengeance or retribution. We really just want closure."
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted on Tuesday not to recommend that he be granted a 90-day reprieve or a lesser penalty than death.
His attorney had petitioned the board and described him as "a frail, elderly man who requires specialized care to perform basic functions and is no longer capable of being dangerous." In fact, newly released medical records show Buntion last week was taken to the hospital due to chest pains, diagnosed with pneumonia and blood in his urine and prescribed antibiotics . He sustained a head injury on the way back to the prison when his transport van made a sudden stop on the highway. Irby emphasizes "We did not make the decision to execute Carl Buntion. He was convicted of this by a jury of his peers and he has been on death row for a very long time. I understand he is up in age, but it's not like this was the first crime he has ever committed."
Cally says there are a lot of families out there "who are like us, who have lost people in the line of duty for just protecting others."
Officer Irby was killed four days after Cally's first birthday. "I have recently gotten engaged, and one of my main thoughts when that happened is that my father is not going to be there to walk me down the aisle. He is not going to be there because of this senseless act that was committed by this man."
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