WASHINGTON, 17 MAG - Un uomo condannato per avere ucciso il figlioletto di 11 mesi e' stato messo a morte con un' iniezione letale nel penitenziario di Huntsville, nello stato

americano del Texas.

   Ronford Styron, 32 anni, nel 1993 colpi' il bambino con una scarica di pugni alla testa. Il piccolo mori' due giorni dopo per emorragia cerebrale.

   ''Sto per raggiungere il mio bambino, ora potro' giocare con lui, signore Gesu' gia' vedo il tuo spirito'', ha detto mentre lo stavano legando al lettino su cui gli e' stata somministrata

l'iniezione.

   Styron e' il 12/o condannato ad essere messo a morte in Texas nel corso del 2002 e altre 11 esecuzioni sono in programma quest'anno, tre delle quali in maggio.

   Da quando nel 1982 sono riprese le esecuzioni, sono stati messi a morte 268 condannati. Il Texas e' lo Stato che detiene il record delle esecuzioni capitali negli Usa. 

Texas father executed for beating 11-month-old son to death

Thu May 16, 8:32 PM ET

By MICHAEL GRACZYK, 

 HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A man was executed for beating his 11-month-old son to death.

Ronford Styron, 32, told family and friends that he loved them and was worried about them before being put to death by injection on Thursday.

 "I'm going to go and be with my little boy and I'm going to have fun with him," he said, smiling and looking at relatives, including his mother and grandmother, who watched through a window.

 Lee Styron died at a Houston hospital in October 1993, three days after he was brought into an emergency room with a head injury.

 Styron acknowledged he punched the child once in the head but contended in appeals he didn't intend to kill his son. The U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) refused Thursday to review his conviction.

 Weeks before the boy's death, a Texas law had taken effect making killers of children under the age of 6 eligible for the death penalty.

 Medical examiners found the baby had suffered three recent blows to the head and any of them could have been fatal. At least 10 bones had broken in previous injuries.

 According to testimony, Styron, who had a history of violent behavior, stuffed the child's mouth with tape to stop him from crying, dunked him in ice water, squeezed his chest hard enough to break ribs and shook him so hard the retinas of his eyes hemorrhaged.

 Styron was the 12th Texas inmate put to death this year.

Texas Executes Man Who Killed 11 - Month - Old Son

 May 16, 2002

By REUTERS

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - A man convicted of killing his 11-month-old son was put to death by lethal injection on Thursday in a Texas prison.

 Ronford Styron, 32, was the 12th person executed this year in Texas, which leads the nation in capital punishment.

 Styron was condemned for punching son Lee at least three times in the head and face on Oct. 23, 1993, at their home in Dayton, Texas, northeast of Houston. The boy died two

days later of a brain hemorrhage.

 At his trial, Styron admitted striking the child in anger because he suspected the boy was not his biological son. He said he did not mean to kill him, but investigators said the child had numerous broken bones from a long history of abuse.

  In a final statement as he lay strapped to a gurney in the Texas death chamber, Styron said: ``I'm going to go with my little boy and play with him. ... Lord Jesus, I see your

spirit, it's OK, I love you.''

 For his final meal, Styron requested a platter of Mexican food, two Classic Coca-Colas, pickles, olives, and cookies-and-cream ice cream.

 He was the 268th person put to death in Texas since 1982 when the state resumed executions six years after the U.S.

Supreme Court lifted a national death penalty ban.

Texas currently has 11 more executions scheduled this year, including three in May.