Eight years after he came less than half an hour from execution before receiving a stay from a federal court, Yokamon Laneal Hearn is once again scheduled to be killed in the Texas death chamber, this time at or soon after 6pm on 18 July 2012.

Yokamon Hearn was sentenced to death for the murder of 23-year-old stockbroker Joseph Franklin (Frank) Meziere committed in Dallas in March 1998. Frank Meziere was shot in the head 10 times after being abducted by four youths who wanted to steal his car. All four were charged with capital murder. Yokamon Hearn pleaded not guilty at his December 1998 trial, but the jury took only 50 minutes to convict him of murder committed in the course of a kidnapping and robbery – a capital offence – and the following day, after about an hour’s deliberation, decided that he would pose a future risk to society if allowed to live, even in prison.

Report by Amnesty International