Donald Newbury Executed in Texas
Donald Newbury, Texas
February 4, 2015
Texas executed Donald Keith Newbury on Wednesday, February 4, 2015. Donald was pronounced dead at 6:25 pm, inside the Walls Unit execution chamber of the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Fifty-two-year-old Donald was convicted of the murder of 29-year-old Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins on December 24, 2000, in Irving, Texas. Donald has spent the last 12 years of his life on Texas’ death row.
Donald attended school through the sixth grade. He had previously been arrested and served time for aggravated robbery, twice. Prior to his arrest, he had worked as a carpenter, an electrician, and a laborer.
In 1998, Donald Newbury was again convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, leading to a 99-year prison sentence. By December of 2000, Newbury was at the John B. Connally Unit, a maximum-security state prison near Kenedy, Texas. Donald conspired with six other inmates – 39-year-old Joseph C. Garcia, 23-year-old Randy Ethan Halprin, 37-year-old Larry James Harper, 39-year-old Patrick Henry Murphy, Jr., 30-year-old George Rivas, and 38-year-old Michael Anthony Rodriguez – to break out of the prison. The group, led by George Rivas, became known as the “Texas 7.” All were serving sentences of 30 years or longer, most with potential life sentences.
On December 13, 2000, around 11:20 am, the seven inmates used a variety of ploys to overpower and restrain nine civilian maintenance supervisors, four correctional officers, and three uninvolved inmates. They had planned the escape during the slowest part of the day and in areas with low surveillance. They stole a white prison truck to assist in their escape, later dumping it in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
After their escape, the group of seven fled to San Antonio. The next day they robbed a Radio Shack in Pearland to obtain money. On December 19, four of the seven checked into an Econo Lodge motel in Farmers Branch. They decided, once again needing money, to rob Oshman’s Sporting Goods store in Irving, a nearby town. For several days they cased the store and created their plans.
On December 24, 2000, they held up the store, stealing 44 guns and over $70,000 in cash. A customer outside the store saw the holdup and called the police. Officer Aubrey Hawkins responded to the call and was immediately ambushed. In total, he suffered 11 gunshot wounds from at least five different weapons. His body was then dragged out from his vehicle and run over by the group as they fled the scene.
The Texas 7 were eventually arrested, with the help of the television show America’s Most Wanted, which featured their story on January 20, 2001. Six of seven were captured, while the seventh, Larry Harper, killed himself before he could be arrested. All six surviving members were charged, convicted, and sentenced to death for the murder of Officer Hawkins. As it was unclear who actually shot Officer Hawkins, they were convicted under the Law of Parties.
The Law of Parties allows for a person to be criminally held responsible for another’s actions if that person acts with “the intent to promote or assist the commission of the offense and solicits, encourages, directs aids, or attempts to aid the other person to commit the offense… If, in the attempt to carry out a conspiracy to commit one felony, another felony is committed by one of the conspirators, all conspirator are guilty of the felony actually committed.”
The ringleader, George Rivas was executed on February 29, 2012. Michael Anthony Rodriguez was then executed on August 14, 2008, after asking that his appeals be stopped.
Please pray for peace and healing for the family of Aubry Hawkins. Please pray for the family of Donald Newbury.
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