Tuesday, October 12, 2004

NORTH CAROLINA LAST MEAL
SAMMY CRYSTAL PERKINS
October 8, 2004

...these are the ones that keep you up at night....

Last Meal: Two fried chicken breasts, two fried chicken wings, sweet potato pie, a large order of French fries from McDonald's, a 20 ounce Coke and a cup of ice.

The skinny: Perkins was executed for the 1992 rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl.

More skinny: Perkins was living with his mother in Greenville, and went to the home of a woman he had been dating. She lived in the house with her two children and four grandchildren, one of whom was the 7 year old victim.

At approximately 3:00 am, Perkins entered the woman’s bedroom, where she and her two grandchildren were sleeping. Perkins watched a pornographic video and then tried to have sex with the woman. She ordered Perkins out of the house. The woman then went to sleep.

She awoke at around 9:00 am, and while the family was preparing to go to church for Easter services, the woman discovered that the girl was dead.

The evidence tended to show that sometime early that morning, Perkins had mounted the victim, held a pillow over her face, and had sex with her. At trial, Perkins testified that he had been drinking and smoking crack cocaine. He stated that the girl awoke while he was having sex with her grandmother. He put a pillow over her face so that she would not see them. He said that he administered CPR, which he thought was successful in resuscitating her.

Priors: Perkins admitted that he had a prior conviction for attempted rape in 1981 and was released from prison in 1986. He also had prior convictions for possession with intent to sell and deliver heroin and cocaine in 1988 and 1989.

Last words and such: "I would like to say I love my mother, all my brothers and sisters and all my children. I'll see ya'll on the other side."

Factoids: Perkins was the...

48th murderer executed in U.S. in 2004
933rd murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in North Carolina in 2004
32nd murderer executed in North Carolina since 1976