Bobby Batiste Jr. - Black, age 28

Sentenced in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi

By: a judge upon jury recommendation

Date of crime: March 2008

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Batiste beat to death his roommate Andreas Galanis (age 28). Galanis had told a friend that his bank account was missing $3,000 to $5,000 right before being found dead. Batiste later admitted to taking the money. When the police arrived to look for Galanis they found his body with blood all over the room.

Sources: Sun Herald (MS) 03/10/09 (2008 WLNR 4689796), 03/11/08 (2008 WLNR 4738888); Clarion-Ledger (MS) 03/10/08 (2008 WLNR 26595536), 10/26/09 (2009 WLNR 21329282).

Jason Keller - White, age 28

Sentenced in Harrison County, Mississippi

By: a judge upon jury recommendation

Date of crime: June 21, 2007

Prosecution’s case/defense response: Keller shot to death Hat Nguyen (age 41) during a robbery of her store. Keller claimed that he intended to rob Nguyen and to shoot at her, but that he did not intend to hit her with any of the bullets. Keller was already in prison at the time of the trial for a different robbery. The defense argued that Keller had shown himself to be a good inmate, and that he could no longer hurt anyone.

Sources: Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS) 10/08/09 (2009 WLNR 19799288), 10/09/09 (2009 WLNR 19908491).