Charles Brooks, Jr.
This article is about the murderer, for other uses, see
Charles Brooks (disambiguation). Charles Brooks Jr. (
April 1,
1942 –
December 7,
1982) was a convicted
murderer who was the first person executed by
lethal injection in the
United States. It was the first execution in
Texas since
1964. Brooks was raised in a well-off
Fort Worth family and attended I.M. Terrell High School, where he played football. He had been to prison before, serving time at the
United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth for illegal possession of firearms.On
14 December 1976 Brooks went to a car yard saying he wanted to test drive a car. The
mechanic, David Gregory, accompanied him in the car. After picking up Woody Loudres, the mechanic was put in the
trunk of the car and they drove to a
motel. There the mechanic was bound to a chair with
coat hangers, gagged with tape and then shot once in the head. Neither Brooks nor Loudres would say who fired the shot. Because of legal complications, Lourdes received a 40 year sentence, while Brooks received the death sentence.
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