Texas Execution
Carl Blue, convicted of capital murder for killing a College Station woman in 1994, is scheduled to be executed today.
Posted: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 11:51 pm, Thu Feb 21, 2013.
LIVINGSTON -- Carl Blue was at peace Wednesday with the idea that his life would be over in just one short day, when he is scheduled to be executed for killing a woman nearly 19 years ago whom he insisted he still loves.
"I wish I could take it all back," he said of his murderous actions on Aug. 19, 1994, the day he set Carmen Richards-Sanders on fire in her College Station apartment. "I'm not an evil person."
Barring a successful last-minute appeal, Blue -- a father of two, now ages 25 and 24 -- is set to be put to death at 6 p.m. Thursday as punishment for capital murder.
Richards died 19 days after being set ablaze by Blue, who'd gone into her apartment with a cup of gas and ran out moments later, leaving behind Richards and her friend Larence Williams in flames.
Speaking with an Eagle reporter from behind a thick glass partition Wednesday, the gray-haired 47-year-old death row inmate took responsibility for Richards' death but, as he has been from the beginning, was adamant that the murder was not intentional.
Regardless of what really happened that day, Blue has come to terms with his conviction and sentence -- something he couldn't have done without God and the Bible, he said.
"They can't touch my soul and my spirit," he said in a soft, calm voice, which he maintained throughout the 45-minute interview.
He described his first three years on death row as "torment," saying he was at first in a state of shock and then became angry -- angry with himself, the justice system and society.
Once he found Jesus and learned to forgive, Blue said, he was able to put the past behind him in an attempt to change for the better.
"I'm going to the House of Jesus," Blue said with a confident smile.
He hopes to see Richards there so he can tell her he's sorry, that he never meant to hurt her, he said.
"I'll always love her," Blue said about Richards, whom he dated for about a year before the incident.
While he's found a way to handle his looming death, Blue said he doesn't think execution should be a punishment for anyone.
"I should have to think about it the rest of my life [in prison]," he said when asked what he'd consider a fair punishment. "I could use my time to help someone else."
If given the chance to live, Blue said, he'd like to devote himself to preventing others from ending up in the same place he is by talking about his own experiences.
He largely blames the influence of drugs and alcohol -- Blue smoked crack outside Richards' apartment immediately before going in -- for putting him in the mindset to be able to do what he did.
Blue's daughter was 7 and his son 6 when he was arrested for capital murder. As his kids grew up, he emphasized the importance of staying away from mind-altering substances and used himself as an example of why.
Talking about his children was a breaking point for Blue.
"I wish I could just hold my babies," he said, cupping his hands over his face and rubbing his eyes.
Blue won't be able to touch any of his family before the execution and hasn't hugged his kids since 1994.
It was unclear if either of his children would be attending the execution, but Blue's 60-year-old mother -- whom he refers to as "his best girl" -- does plan to be in attendance.
Blue said he's asked to be buried in Wheelock, where he grew up until moving to Bryan at the age of 10.
He requested he be buried in a cowboy hat, boots and an outfit appropriate to saddle-up and ride in.
"Don't put me in no suit -- I'm not going to no wedding," he joked.
Wednesday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles for Clemency denied a stay for Blue.
Last week, the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed Blue's final appeal, leaving his chances for a court-issued stay in the hands of federal judges and, if denied again, Supreme Court justices.
In the appeal, Blue's attorney argues that evidence about Blue's birth and upbringing were not heard during his trial. Blue was born premature to a 13-year-old mother and had to be kept in an "incubator" for two months.
Evidence about his low intellectual functioning and limitations in adaptive skills also were left out of the trial, according to the appeal.
Based on an intellectual test administered to Blue in 2010, he has a third-grade reading level and math scores comparable to fourth-grade students.
According to a 2002 Supreme Court ruling, mentally disabled inmates legally cannot be executed.


