Shonda Waller and her 11-month-old daughter Adriana Waller, lived with Charles Warner and his three children, seven-year-old Charvon, five-year-old Vonita, and two-year-old Dasia. On the morning of August 22, 1997, Warner left around 7:30 am to go pay a traffic ticket. Shonda woke up around 8:00 am and stayed in bed to play with Adriana, who appeared to be her normal, playful self. When Shonda changed her diaper that morning, she did not notice anything abnormal.
Shonda and Warner had planned to go grocery shopping that afternoon, however, Warner suggested that she go alone and he stay to watch the children. Shonda agreed and left around noon, returning around 2:30 pm. When she looked in on Adriana, she saw her lying in bed. Shortly thereafter, Shonda told Warner she wanted to get the telephone connected. Warner went to get Adriana and brought her out of the bedroom, saying she was not breathing.
Warner and Shonda rushed to the hospital, with Shonda performing CPR on the way. Medical personnel were unable to resuscitate Adriana. As the staff cleaned Adriana, they removed her diaper, noticing that there was bright red blood around Adriana's anus, as well as tears in the rectum. The injuries appeared to be recent. The staff stopped cleaning and called the police.
Adriana had a six-inch skull fracture, a broken jaw, three broken ribs, bruised lungs, and a lacerated liver and spleen. A forensic pathologist said that the injuries were likely caused between one and three hours before her death. Warner was questioned by police that night into the next morning, when he was arrested, charged, and eventually convicted of Adriana's murder.
Charles' execution was originally scheduled for Thursday, March 27, 2014, but the execution was delayed until April 29, 2014, when the pharmacy from which the Oklahoma Department of Corrections arranged to purchase the execution drugs unexpectedly backed out. Oklahoma has since revised their execution policy, allowing for five different lethal injection methods of executions. Oklahoma plans to use a combination of midazolam, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride for Charles' execution, which was purchased from a non-compounding pharmacy.
In the months leading up to Charles' execution, a case he filed, along with fellow death row inmate Clayton Darrell Lockett, regarding the secrecy surrounding the state's execution drugs bounced between several courts.It reached a peak during the final week leading up to his April 29, 2014, execution.Ultimately, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that they were not entitled to know from where the execution drugs were procured. Click here for more information surrounding this case.
Please pray for peace for the family of Adriana Waller. Please pray for strength for the family of Charles. Please pray that Charles may come to find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if he has not already found one.