'My death will bring them peace': Kosoul Chanthakoummane addresses victim's family before execution
HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS: A 41-year-old man who brutally murdered a Dallas property dealer over 16 years ago was finally executed on August 16, 2022. Kosoul Chanthakoummane was given lethal drugs at the Huntsville state prison after he received the death penalty for stabbing 40-year-old Sarah Walker in July 2006.
After being shackled to the stretcher in the execution chamber, Chanthakoummane reportedly praised Jesus Christ, Texas jail ministry personnel, and all the individuals who had supported him throughout his journey. "To Mrs Walker's family, I pray that my death will bring them peace," said Chanthakoummane.
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According to the AP, Chanthakoummane also addressed his mom in his dying speech, who was present at his execution. A fatal dose of injection was then delivered to Chanthakoummane. He mouthed the words "Mom, I love you" as 5 grams of the anesthetic pentobarbital were administered into both of his arms while he turned to face the side where his mom stood witnessing the act. She waved back and said, "I love you," as reported by The Tribune-Democrat. Then Chanthakoummane breathed four times, coughed softly, and silently died. He was declared dead at 6:33 pm, 15 minutes later.
Chanthakoummane had previously asked for a religious counselor to be there at his execution. Right before the fatal injection was given, a Buddhist monk laid his right palm on Chanthakoummane's chest and quoted a verse from the Book of Ecclesiastes that talks about "a time for everything." In his reply, Chanthakoummane said, "Amen."
Chanthakoummane was one of the prisoners whose executions were postponed last year when they complained that their constitutionally protected rights were being infringed upon. In a decision issued in March, the Supreme Court mandated states to honor requests of death row convicts with regards how priests pray over them and hold them as they are put to death.
Walker was discovered in a McKinney house with more than 30 stab wounds. Chanthakoummane had allegedly invaded the house, assaulted Walker with a wooden plant stand, stabbed her, and then stole her silver ring and Rolex wristwatch, which were never recovered, according to the prosecution. According to DNA evidence, Walker's fingernails were amongst the spots within the model home where his blood was discovered. Despite admitting to being in the model home, Chanthakoummane insisted he was innocent and that he had just entered to grab a glass of water. Chanthakoummane was on parole in Texas when this incident happened, after being imprisoned in North Carolina for abduction and theft.
As a result of Chanthakoummane's lawyer contesting the DNA samples used to condemn him, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decided not to postpone his execution. Additionally, Chanthakoummane's death sentence was neither commuted nor given a 120-day respite by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday.
Walker's father, Joseph Walker, died last year but had expressed strongly his disapproval of Chanthakoummane's death sentence and claimed to have pardoned him. In a statement to the Times Union in 2018, he said, "It was just a totally senseless, random act. But everyone deserves every bit of their life so they can have a chance to repent and go to heaven. I believe that totally, completely. "
"I'll go down to the prison and make a big scene," he spoke of what he would do if he were to survive to witness the day of Chanthakoummane's death. Chanthakoummane was Texas' second prisoner to be executed this year. Carl Buntion, who was 78 years old and at the time the state's oldest execution sentence prisoner, was put to death in April.