Famous Last Words
Melvin Wayne White
Huntsville, Texas
November 3, 2005
“Tell Beth [the mother of Jennifer Lee Gravell] and them I am sorry, truly sorry for the pain that I caused your family. I truly mean that too. She was a friend of mine and I betrayed her trust. I love you all. Tell Momma I love her. [He recites the Lord’s prayer.] All right, Warden, let’s give them what they want. I can taste it [the lethal injection drug].”
Jennifer Lee Gravell was 9-years-old when White took her from a neighborhood barbecue under the false pretense of driving her home, which was just two houses away from his own. After Jennifer’s body was found, White confessed to attempting to sexually assaulting her. When she resisted, he bound her arms behind her back with electrical tape and gagged her with a sock. He was interrupted as a car passed by, so he took Jennifer to another area where he struck her head repeatedly with a tire iron.
During his trial White also confessed to have assaulted his daughter from the time she was 12, providing her with $50 a week for sex on demand. Witnesses also testified he would hold parties for teenagers, providing alcohol, so he could grope the teens’ breasts.
