Tennessee executes man convicted of killing teenage girl, her mother in 1986

By Brendan O'Brien

 

Death-row inmate Stephen Michael West is shown in Nashville, Tennesee, U.S., January 2, 2019. Tennessee Department of Corrections/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - A man convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl and stabbing her and her mother to death in their home with a teenage accomplice more than 30 years ago was executed in Tennessee on Thursday, officials said.

 

Stephen Michael West, 56, was put to death by electric chair and was pronounced dead at 7:27 p.m. local time (2327 GMT) at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, the state Department of Correction said in a statement.

 

West became the second inmate in Tennessee and the 11th in the United States to be executed in 2019, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The last inmate to be executed by electric chair was David Miller, 61, in Tennessee in December.

 

West appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution, but the high court denied the request.

 

Separately, an appeals court stayed an execution, which had also been scheduled for Thursday, of a man who was found guilty of murdering two people and other charges.

 

In 1987, a jury convicted West of several crimes, including two counts of first-degree murder, and sentenced him to die for the killings of 15-year-old Sheila Romines, a classmate of his accomplice Ronnie Martin, and her mother Wanda Romines.

 

In 1986, West, who was 23 at the time, and 17-year-old Martin left their jobs at a McDonald's in Lake City, Tennessee. The pair drove around and drank in Martin's car and, after a few hours, went to the Romines' home, court papers said.

 

Authorities said West and Martin waited in front of the home until Sheila Romines' father left for work at 5:20 a.m. They then knocked on the door and Wanda Romines let them into the house.

 

Once inside, the men raped Sheila, who had rebuffed Martin's advances at school, and stabbed both Sheila and Wanda to death.

 

West and Martin were arrested the next day, court documents showed.

 

Martin received a life sentence after he pleaded guilty. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that inmates who were younger than 18 when they committed a capital crime are ineligible for the death penalty. He has the possibility of parole in 2030.

 

West unsuccessfully appealed his case in state and federal courts, challenging the state's lethal injection protocol and arguing that jailhouse recordings of Martin discussing the crime with a fellow inmate showed West was not responsible for the murders.

 

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-16

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As long as DNA evidence proved he was the killer then he got what he deserved imo .

Every time I read of someone being executed in the United States I am amazed at the date of the crime, often over half a lifetime ago.

After all that time it makes me wonder if the death sentence is a deterrent or continued imprisonment is a greater punishment.

 

this amounts to inhuman torture. Executed after 30 years, sick. I have no sympathy for him as a criminal, but two wrongs don't make a right and the State of Tennessee should hang its collective head in shame for acting like government sponsored savages.  

at last he finally paid his bill...

to complement his downpayments, of stewing, rotting in self pity for over 30 years

Well 30 yrs is ample time to be 100% sure he did it glad he got old sparky hope he felt it rapping a15 year old and killing her and her mom yes I hope he felt it real good!

If beyond a doubt from the beginning and 1000% proven it should never take so long sucking tax payers money taking care of them. 2-5 years max.

1 hour ago, tifino said:

at last he finally paid his bill...

to complement his downpayments, of stewing, rotting in self pity for over 30 years

Maybe he did do the killings, but he always maintained that it was his under age accomplice that struck the blows.  That's the trouble with execution in the US, it's often the wrong person that gets killed. 

his last request... ...then, take it like a Champion

dirt bag...remove from gene pool now!

Edited August 16, 20197 yr by mike787

6 hours ago, PJPom said:

Every time I read of someone being executed in the United States I am amazed at the date of the crime, often over half a lifetime ago.

After all that time it makes me wonder if the death sentence is a deterrent or continued imprisonment is a greater punishment.

 

Exactly! A huge cost to the state and prolonged mental torturer of the victims family and the convicted! 30 years???? gimmee a break!

 

 

 

 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

pair drove around and drank in Martin's car and, after a few hours, went to the Romines' home, court papers said.

He looks like the KFC proprietor.

Edited August 16, 20197 yr by HLover

3 hours ago, mike787 said:

dirt bag...remove from gene pool now!

Or wait +30 years...up to you.

5 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Maybe he did do the killings, but he always maintained that it was his under age accomplice that struck the blows.  That's the trouble with execution in the US, it's often the wrong person that gets killed. 

Strange Russia and China do not have the same pesky problems.

5 hours ago, Pilotman said:

Maybe he did do the killings, but he always maintained that it was his under age accomplice that struck the blows.  That's the trouble with execution in the US, it's often the wrong person that gets killed. 

BS = Even form an outsider looking in the statistics show there are VERY FEW dodgy, unwarranted executions. I know that being said ONE is too many. It equals life - shlt happens!

17 minutes ago, bdenner said:

BS = Even form an outsider looking in the statistics show there are VERY FEW dodgy, unwarranted executions. I know that being said ONE is too many. It equals life - shlt happens!

You are right, one is one too many. 

7 hours ago, PJPom said:

Every time I read of someone being executed in the United States I am amazed at the date of the crime, often over half a lifetime ago.

After all that time it makes me wonder if the death sentence is a deterrent or continued imprisonment is a greater punishment.

 

Can't really answer your (Rhetoric) question,...All I know is that the long time between the sentencing and the actual execution has served lot's of innocent people !!! Many people had there cases re-studied and reopened to prove that in fact they were innocent of the crimes they were incarcerated for !!!

The juvenile comments posted are as pathetic as the 30 year delay in this creatures execution. 

30 years too late.

Good for you Tennessee 

Several research projects over many years have all concluded that the death penalty is not a deterrent to murder or any other crime.

https://www.amnestyusa.org/issues/death-penalty/death-penalty-facts/the-death-penalty-and-deterrence/

 

Yes I know I will now be flooded with replies stating :

well they wont kill again once they are executed, and similar.

 

If there is solid evidence, or a reliable witnesses of a crime of this nature, there is no need to keep someone on death row for 30 years. The average prisoner cost the state $65,000 a year in the US. On death row, far more. With appeals, even more. So you have a guy who committed a heinous crime 34 years ago, and the state has spend upwards of $10,000,000 keeping him alive. I say let's do away with the courts entirely when it comes to a heinous crime, where at least two people were murdered, and there is solid evidence. Put together a three person tribunal who hears these cases, and makes a decision, that is not subject to appeal. Then execute them by the cheapest means possible, within a weeks time. Done. The oxygen smells better, not even his mother is going to miss him, and the world is a better place. 

 

I am not a rabid conservative. I say all this as a moderate democrat. But one who is tired of the state coddling murderous fools. 

11 hours ago, PJPom said:

Every time I read of someone being executed in the United States I am amazed at the date of the crime, often over half a lifetime ago.

After all that time it makes me wonder if the death sentence is a deterrent or continued imprisonment is a greater punishment.

 

Plenty of literature shows the death penalty is not a deterrent for murder.  Usually it boils down to they either didn't think they were going to get caught, or just did not consider consequences.  Like a lot of sentencing legislation, it's pretty much a knee jerk response so the pollies can claim to be tough on crime.

 

it does seem to have more of a deterrent effect in countries where people are executed for drug crimes, although that is debatable too.

 

Not really sure how to think about this particular case.   We all did stupid things at 23 and the mind is far from being a mature adult.  But a sick fugger none the less.

If this was Canada, where the maximum sentence is life without possibility of parole for X years, murderers like this guy spend the first half of their parole ineligibility mocking the victims and declaring they are the real victims here.  When the possibility of parole is on the horizon, they become remorseful and enthusiastically complete their rehabilitation programs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 20197 yr by Canuckabroad

I'm guessing that the main reason for the 30 years delay was the number of appeals and pleas for clemency. Obviously, he wanted to stay alive for as long as possible.

 

I can not find any sympathy for him, he got his extra 30 years of life but his victims were robbed of theirs.

36 minutes ago, Mick501 said:

Plenty of literature shows the death penalty is not a deterrent for murder. 

REALLY??? So you actually know of a case where a condemned criminal was able to kill again after he was executed?

14 hours ago, keith101 said:

As long as DNA evidence proved he was the killer then he got what he deserved imo .

I don't know if there was much DNA evidence available in 1986.. The technology wasn't advanced enough 30+ years ago..

Fingerprints, yes.. 

Assuming that all was proven beyond any doubt I only wonder, why it took them 33 years. 
The question arising is about the cost of keeping such society outcast alive that long; millions of tax payers money was burnt by the pile again. 

On 8/16/2019 at 9:17 AM, Pilotman said:

this amounts to inhuman torture. Executed after 30 years, sick. I have no sympathy for him as a criminal, but two wrongs don't make a right and the State of Tennessee should hang its collective head in shame for acting like government sponsored savages.  

The only reason to hang their in shame is it took too damn long to carry out the punishment