256:. The four had spent the night drinking in various lounges in the vicinity. They left Roger's Nite Club in a 1966 Chevrolet driven by Dalton, with his brother in the front seat and the other two in the back. The car's taillights were not working, and within a few hundred feet of the lounge, Trooper Cleveland, who was on his way to work driving his police vehicle, signaled the Chevrolet to stop. Prejean and his brother attempted to switch places in the front seat because the defendant had been driving without a license. The trooper noticed the switch and ordered the occupants out of the car. He told Michael George and Michael Broussard to get back in and began to search Joseph Prejean. Dalton Prejean, back in the car, stated in reaction to the trooper's pushing Joseph against the car, over Joseph's protest, "I don't like the way he's doing my brother." Dalton then took a .38 caliber revolver from under the car seat, got out of the car and approached the officer with the gun hidden against his leg. As he neared the trooper, he fired without warning. Trooper Cleveland was struck by two bullets and was killed. Dalton and his companions fled the scene but were apprehended several hours later.
236:
driver. One of his companions was carrying a gun. The three directed the driver to a quiet part of town and persuaded him to stop while they searched for an address. Dalton insisted on taking the gun from his companion because the other youth appeared to be nervous. Dalton approached the driver, and believing that the driver was reaching for a gun of his own, fired twice and began running. While fleeing, he told a passerby to call an ambulance because someone had been shot. Dalton later turned himself in to the police and admitted that he had killed the driver.
240:
boy to be "a definite danger to himself and others, and his dream content suggests that it is a matter of accident that the cab driver was killed rather than the boy being killed. He is equally likely to get himself killed in the near future." The psychiatrist therefore recommended a lengthy confinement, followed by transfer to permanent facilities. The juvenile courts had jurisdiction over the defendant until he was 21. The doctor's recommendation would have served to keep the defendant confined until
December 1980.
319:
224:. Dalton was unaware of his true parentage until the age of eleven. When Dalton's father left his mother and moved to Houston, the aunt decided that Dalton had to be told that he was not her child. Around this time, he began creating problems of an unknown nature, and was sent to live with his mother in Lafayette.
244:
a fairly stable environment." That doctor also suggested that fairly rigid probation requirements be imposed. On
December 10, 1976, Prejean was released to the custody of his aunt in Houston, apparently without any probation requirements. Within seven months, Dalton was once more under arrest for murder.
348:
Nothing is going to be accomplished. I have peace with myself. I'd like to thank all of those who supported me all these years. I'd also like to thank my loved ones for being strong. . . . My son will be a better person for not letting something like this bring down his life. . . . Keep strong, keep
243:
In 1976, however, another doctor conducted a psychiatric evaluation of the defendant and recommended that he be discharged. He concluded that the defendant's values had changed, but cautioned that "suitable conditions (should be) imposed to be sure he had adequate supervision and is going to live in
239:
A psychiatric evaluation of Dalton was performed in 1974. He was found to be intellectually limited and to have very poor judgment. Dalton was diagnosed as having borderline mental retardation, and it was questionable if he knew the difference between right and wrong. The psychiatrist considered the
235:
In June 1974, Dalton was arrested for the killing of John Doucet, a taxi driver. Dalton admitted the killing and was committed once again to the
Louisiana Training Institute. In a later statement about the incident, Dalton stated that he and two friends called a cab with the intention of robbing the
231:
for truancy at the insistence of his mother. Released only seven months later, he soon came into conflict with the authorities on charges of burglary, theft, and "false firearms." In March 1974, he was committed to the
Lafayette Juvenile Youth Authority, a residential program for delinquents. He ran
271:
Test, Dr. William
Hawkins determined that he functioned at the dull normal level in the verbal area, but in the borderline mental retardation area in the performance area. He had a verbal IQ of 82 and a performance IQ of 72. His full scale IQ was 76, with a full scale mental age of 13 years and six
284:
because of pretrial publicity. After a three-day bifurcated trial beginning on May 1, 1978, a jury of twelve persons found the defendant guilty as charged and unanimously recommended that a death sentence be imposed. Prejean's defense lawyers appealed, citing mitigating factors of an IQ around 71,
207:
Prejean's son, Dalton
Prejean Jr., born while his father was awaiting execution, was himself convicted of the 2001 death of his 14-month old stepson. Prejean Jr. is currently serving a 60-year sentence in the same prison his father was executed in.
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declined to commute the death sentence to life in prison, rejecting the recommendation of the parole board. "On behalf of 780 state troopers, and thousands of police officers who put their lives on the line every day, the execution will proceed."
722:
752:
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pushing, keep praying. They said it wasn't for the revenge, but it's hard for me to see, to understand. I hope they're happy. So I forfeit my life. I give my love to all. God bless.
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Dalton
Prejean was charged by grand jury indictment with first degree murder in violation of Louisiana Revised Statute 14:30. The trial was transferred from Lafayette Parish to
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in 1990; in
November 1989 it had granted a stay on the eve of his scheduled execution. On April 17, 1990, the Court lifted the stay without comment. The
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At about five o'clock in the morning of July 2, 1977, Prejean, his brother Joseph, Michael George, and
Michael Broussard left Roger's Nite Club in
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179:(December 10, 1959 – May 18, 1990) was one of 22 people in the United States executed for crimes committed as a juvenile prior to the decision
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712:
384:: 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the execution of those under 18 (at the time of committing the capital crime) is unconstitutional.
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away from that facility after a month; upon his return, his commitment was terminated and he was released on probation to his mother.
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555:
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392:: 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the execution of those who committed their crime when under the age of 16 is unconstitutional.
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said, "I doubt that in documented recent world history there is an execution such a pile of reasons not to do it."
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Dalton began skipping his school classes following his return to
Lafayette. In March 1972, he was committed to the
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Prejean was the second of four children. When he was two weeks old his parents sent him from their home in
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Dalton was once again given psychological tests during pretrial confinement. On the basis of the
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The case received international attention because the defendant was a black man convicted by an
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called for commutation of the sentence and a review of the evidence. A representative for
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Burgess, Richard (2003-12-12). "Prejean Jr. gets 60 years for killing stepson".
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schizophrenia with two institutionalizations, and his abandonment as an infant.
16:
American murderer controversially executed by the state of Louisiana (1959-1990)
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610:
318:
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87:
532:"Supreme Court Lifts the Final Stay Of Death for a Retarded '77 Killer"
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723:
American people executed for murdering police officers
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in 2005. He was tried, convicted, and executed in the
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Capital punishment for juveniles in the United States
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83:
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50:
28:
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753:Juvenile offenders executed by the United States
738:People executed by Louisiana by electric chair
556:"Louisiana Executes Man Who Killed at Age 17"
435:"Louisiana Executes Man Who Killed at Age 17"
329:On May 18, 1990, Prejean was executed in the
8:
675:Executions carried out in the United States
728:20th-century executions of American people
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411:"Mentally Ill Prisoners Who Were Executed"
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748:People convicted of murder by Louisiana
505:Phillips, Robert Anthony (2000-01-12).
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370:Capital punishment in the United States
7:
733:20th-century executions by Louisiana
507:"Those Who Died for Juvenile Crimes"
375:List of people executed in Louisiana
647:Executions carried out in Louisiana
605:Nelson, Lane; Foster, Burk (2001).
220:to live with his aunt and uncle in
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758:People from Lafayette, Louisiana
743:Executed African-American people
530:Greenhouse, Linda (1990-04-17).
415:Death Penalty Information Center
66:West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana
365:Capital punishment in Louisiana
768:Executed people from Louisiana
665: Johnny Anderson –
1:
580:Walter Shapiro (2001-06-24).
632:, 379 So.2d 240 (La., 1979.)
335:Louisiana State Penitentiary
323:Louisiana State Penitentiary
229:Louisiana Training Institute
62:Louisiana State Penitentiary
267:Vocabulary Subtest and the
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713:Minors convicted of murder
669:– May 17, 1990
197:Trooper Donald Cleveland.
78:Execution by electrocution
763:People with schizophrenia
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672:
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344:His final statement was:
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263:Intelligence Scale, the
718:American male criminals
641:Edward Byrne Jr. – 1988
288:The appeal reached the
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195:Louisiana State Police
582:"A Life in His Hands"
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321:
298:Amnesty International
464:The Daily Advertiser
389:Thompson v. Oklahoma
325:, where Prejean died
134:Donald Cleveland, 25
43:Lafayette, Louisiana
294:European Parliament
106:First degree murder
74:Cause of death
560:The New York Times
536:The New York Times
479:"DALTON J PREJEAN"
467:. pp. 1A, 4A.
440:The New York Times
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304:Louisiana Governor
193:for the murder of
691:
690:
680:Succeeded by
652:Succeeded by
607:"Any Last Words?"
276:Trial and appeals
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39:December 10, 1959
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663:Preceded by
655:Andrew Lee Jones
639:Preceded by
636:
630:State v. Prejean
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609:. Archived from
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381:Roper v. Simmons
290:US Supreme Court
254:Lafayette Parish
182:Roper v. Simmons
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113:Criminal penalty
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84:Criminal status
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686:– June 3, 1990
682:Thomas Baal –
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519:on 2002-02-09.
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331:electric chair
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269:Bender-Gestalt
265:Stanford Binet
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222:Houston, Texas
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202:all-white jury
187:electric chair
177:Dalton Prejean
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119:(May 11, 1990)
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58:(aged 30)
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23:Dalton Prejean
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613:on 2012-04-15
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108:(May 3, 1978)
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100:Conviction(s)
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615:. Retrieved
611:the original
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562:. 1990-05-19
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539:. Retrieved
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517:the original
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445:. Retrieved
443:. 1990-05-19
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418:. Retrieved
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307:Buddy Roemer
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144:July 2, 1977
56:(1990-05-18)
54:May 18, 1990
708:1990 deaths
703:1959 births
512:APBnews.com
132:John Doucet
697:Categories
617:2017-01-14
591:2015-08-24
566:2008-04-04
541:2008-04-04
447:2015-08-24
420:2021-05-06
397:References
212:Background
35:1959-12-10
314:Execution
218:Lafayette
191:Louisiana
165:Louisiana
142:June 1974
586:Time.com
490:10 April
484:VINELink
354:See also
272:months.
261:Wechsler
160:State(s)
88:Executed
149:Country
129:Victims
124:Details
684:Nevada
657:– 1991
339:Angola
68:, U.S.
45:, U.S.
667:Texas
248:Crime
117:Death
492:2024
139:Date
51:Died
29:Born
337:at
333:at
189:in
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64:,
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33:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
