vim1946
11-09-2004, 10:08 AM
From Today's Huntsville Item:
Tuesday, November 9, 2004
Former Aldine High football star set for execution tonight
By Kelly Prew (kprew@itemonline.com)/City editor
Demarco McCullum was once a star on the football field at Aldine High School in Houston. He was preparing to attend college on a football scholarship when he made a decision that would put him behind bars on Texas death row.
In July 1994, McCullum and three friends drove to a club frequented by homosexuals, where they abducted and ultimately killed 29-year-old Michael Burzinski.
His execution is set for tonight at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit, and as he told The Huntsville Item in a recent interview, he has accepted his fate and "the legal stuff is all over."
Also arrested were Terrance Perro, Decedrick Gainous and Christopher Lewis. Gainous, who also was to have played football with McCullum at Tyler Junior College, and Perro received life prison terms.
Lewis testified against McCullum and got a 15-year sentence.
Court testimony from his co-defendants stated that McCullum needed money to buy clothes for college, and because he believed gay men to carry lots of cash, decided to rob a random victim in the Montrose area of Houston.
"I didn't say that," McCullum said in an interview from death row at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Polunsky Unit near Livingston. "That came from one of my other co-defendants. That dude came up to us and started talking, and he was drunk. He got in the car on his own, and I began to drive."
The three men brutalized the victim and drove him to an ATM machine on Little York, where they forced Burzinski to withdraw $400 from his account. The group, directed by McCullum, then drove to a secluded area where the victim was shot once in the back of the head.
His co-defendants told a jury that McCullum told them Burzinski had to die because he knew their names. McCullum then reportedly shouted the name of each member of the group, including his own. The victim pleaded for his life, and McCullum shot him.
"I'm not denying I was the shooter, but they said I shot him at close range," McCullum said. "I shot at Mike, but I was about six feet away.
"When you look at the trial, I know I'm (on death row) because I'm a continued threat. I never made any excuses for robbery or that man losing his life. I mean, get me for what I've done, but don't pile up other stories."
McCullum didn't have convictions but authorities tied him to a series of shootings, robberies and assaults that summer.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a clemency plea. McCullum's lawyer, David Schulman, said appeals were exhausted.
Schulman, however, disagreed with the trial jury's finding that McCullum presented a future danger, one of the elements that determined he should receive a death sentence.
"He doesn't even have a disciplinary record, never broke any of the rules," Schulman said of McCullum's conduct since arriving on death row.
Burzinski's body was dumped in north Harris County, miles from where he was abducted, and the car was abandoned and torched three blocks from where one of his attackers lived.
A reward posted for information in the case prompted a tip to a Crimestoppers phone line. McCullum was arrested the day he was supposed to leave for Tyler Junior College, where he had been given a free ride on a football scholarship.
McCullum said his mother has continued to visit him every two weeks on death row. Because he committed his crime less than two months after graduation, McCullum, now 30, has become an adult behind bars.
"I've had my growth to adulthood behind these walls," he said. "Many people here get older, but few people grow up. Only a miracle can change this situation for me, and I still believe in miracles."
As for the victim's family, McCullum said he offers them a prayer and remembers a passage from the Bible, Isaiah 61:3. "... and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. ..."
"I've always said, if they want to come here, I'll talk to them," McCullum said.
McCullum would be the 21st Texas inmate put to death this year and the first of two this week. He is to be followed to the death chamber 24 hours later by Frederick McWilliams, convicted of fatally shooting a man in Houston while stealing a car.
Kelly Prew can be reached by calling (936) 295-5407 ext. 3022 or by e-mail at kferguson_prew@yahoo.com (kferguson_prew@yahoo.com)
Tuesday, November 9, 2004
Former Aldine High football star set for execution tonight
By Kelly Prew (kprew@itemonline.com)/City editor
Demarco McCullum was once a star on the football field at Aldine High School in Houston. He was preparing to attend college on a football scholarship when he made a decision that would put him behind bars on Texas death row.
In July 1994, McCullum and three friends drove to a club frequented by homosexuals, where they abducted and ultimately killed 29-year-old Michael Burzinski.
His execution is set for tonight at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit, and as he told The Huntsville Item in a recent interview, he has accepted his fate and "the legal stuff is all over."
Also arrested were Terrance Perro, Decedrick Gainous and Christopher Lewis. Gainous, who also was to have played football with McCullum at Tyler Junior College, and Perro received life prison terms.
Lewis testified against McCullum and got a 15-year sentence.
Court testimony from his co-defendants stated that McCullum needed money to buy clothes for college, and because he believed gay men to carry lots of cash, decided to rob a random victim in the Montrose area of Houston.
"I didn't say that," McCullum said in an interview from death row at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Polunsky Unit near Livingston. "That came from one of my other co-defendants. That dude came up to us and started talking, and he was drunk. He got in the car on his own, and I began to drive."
The three men brutalized the victim and drove him to an ATM machine on Little York, where they forced Burzinski to withdraw $400 from his account. The group, directed by McCullum, then drove to a secluded area where the victim was shot once in the back of the head.
His co-defendants told a jury that McCullum told them Burzinski had to die because he knew their names. McCullum then reportedly shouted the name of each member of the group, including his own. The victim pleaded for his life, and McCullum shot him.
"I'm not denying I was the shooter, but they said I shot him at close range," McCullum said. "I shot at Mike, but I was about six feet away.
"When you look at the trial, I know I'm (on death row) because I'm a continued threat. I never made any excuses for robbery or that man losing his life. I mean, get me for what I've done, but don't pile up other stories."
McCullum didn't have convictions but authorities tied him to a series of shootings, robberies and assaults that summer.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a clemency plea. McCullum's lawyer, David Schulman, said appeals were exhausted.
Schulman, however, disagreed with the trial jury's finding that McCullum presented a future danger, one of the elements that determined he should receive a death sentence.
"He doesn't even have a disciplinary record, never broke any of the rules," Schulman said of McCullum's conduct since arriving on death row.
Burzinski's body was dumped in north Harris County, miles from where he was abducted, and the car was abandoned and torched three blocks from where one of his attackers lived.
A reward posted for information in the case prompted a tip to a Crimestoppers phone line. McCullum was arrested the day he was supposed to leave for Tyler Junior College, where he had been given a free ride on a football scholarship.
McCullum said his mother has continued to visit him every two weeks on death row. Because he committed his crime less than two months after graduation, McCullum, now 30, has become an adult behind bars.
"I've had my growth to adulthood behind these walls," he said. "Many people here get older, but few people grow up. Only a miracle can change this situation for me, and I still believe in miracles."
As for the victim's family, McCullum said he offers them a prayer and remembers a passage from the Bible, Isaiah 61:3. "... and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. ..."
"I've always said, if they want to come here, I'll talk to them," McCullum said.
McCullum would be the 21st Texas inmate put to death this year and the first of two this week. He is to be followed to the death chamber 24 hours later by Frederick McWilliams, convicted of fatally shooting a man in Houston while stealing a car.
Kelly Prew can be reached by calling (936) 295-5407 ext. 3022 or by e-mail at kferguson_prew@yahoo.com (kferguson_prew@yahoo.com)