Ronald Ray Howard
| Ronald Ray Howard | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 22, 1973 Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | October 6, 2005 (aged 32) Huntsville, Texas, U.S. |
| Residence | Houston, Texas |
| Criminal penalty | Death by lethal injection |
| Criminal status | Executed on October 6, 2005 |
| Conviction(s) | Capital murder |
Ronald Ray Howard (July 22, 1973 – October 6, 2005) was a convicted American murderer executed by lethal injection by the U.S. state of Texas. He was convicted of the shooting death of Texas Highway Patrol Trooper Bill Davidson after Howard was stopped driving a stolen car on April 11, 1992.
Born in Houston, Texas, Howard dropped out of school in the 8th grade. By age 15, he was stealing cars and dealing drugs. He started, but never finished training in electrician, building maintenance, computer data entry, and heavy diesel mechanics. He was married with three daughters and one son.
Howard's prior criminal convictions were burglary of a motor vehicle (6-year probated sentence) and 45-day jail sentence for theft. At the time of the crime, Howard was 19-years-old and on probation.
On April 11, 1992, Trooper Bill Davidson stopped Howard, originally from the South Park area of Houston, Texas, on U.S. Highway 59 about 5 miles (8 km) south of Edna, Texas in a 1986 GMC Jimmy, as his vehicle had a broken headlight. When Davidson approached the driver-side window of the car, he was shot in the neck. Howard drove off but was apprehended later in the night, with a 9 mm pistol. The car was later found to be stolen. Three days later, Davidson died of his injuries. Drug tests showed that Howard had cocaine and cannabis in his system at the time of the murder.
Howard also said that the rap music that he listened to had conditioned him to hate police officers. He had been listening to 2Pac's "Soulja's Story" when pulled over. The song talks about the harsh life of a young black male being pulled over by a police officer and then shooting him.
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