Myrtle Ruby Case Study

On November 30th of 1986, David Lee Lewis had broken into the Lufkin home of Myrtle Ruby in attempt to steal guns that were inside of her home. The unsuspecting victim was fatally shot with a .22-caliber rifle after returning home from choir practice at her church. David Lee Lewis claims that he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the shooting. He also claims that he did not intentionally aim the gun at Mrs. Ruby, but aimed it in the general direction due to being startled by Mrs. Ruby's' arrival. No matter the excuses given, David Lewis still took a person’s life. On April 7 of 1987, David Lee Lewis was found guilty and sentenced to death row for the shooting death of Mrs. Myrtle Ruby.
In 1993, his murder conviction was reversed due to “notes from the trial being lost,” but in his second
Mrs. Ruby was taken away from her family, her friends and her church congregation. Her life now can only be remembered and mourned but can never be brought back. Mrs. Ruby's' murderer, David Lee Lewis, made the following statement concerning execution,
“[He] thinks (the way they should execute you) should be by your choice – lethal injection, firing squad, hanging or gas chamber”
In all reality no criminal who takes a life should be given the right to do anything especially by choosing how he or she is executed. David Lee Lewis unquestionably deserves the sentence handed to him. He however, should not be allowed to have so many appeals filed. The appeals are only prolonging his execution, which serves no justice to Mrs. Ruby nor her family. The way it should be seen is that, Myrtle Ruby was not given any options on living or dying on that November day in 1986, so why should her murderer be given so many attempts of prolonging his life or the chance to live out his life when he took