Kenneth is Interviewed by KXAN

Man Speaks About Life From Death Row

Aug 15, 2007 11:17 PM

A death row inmate is making a final plea for his life while the family of the victim says it's time for him to die.

Kenneth Foster's execution is scheduled for Aug. 30.

A jury found him responsible for the 1996 death of 25-year-old Michael LaHood Jr. in San Antonio.

Supporters dropped off a stack of petitions to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Wednesday to get its members to rethink the law of parties in Kenneth Foster's case.

The law convicts someone by association in a crime.

In this case, it's a crime Foster said he didn't commit.

From Conversation Booth 23 and possibly 2 weeks of conversations left, Kenneth Foster said he is fighting with and for every breath.

"I want you to realize that you're going to kill a man who hasn't killed anybody," Foster said.

A jury convicted Maurecio Brown for LaHood shooting death, but the jury convicted Foster for murder by association for driving Brown to and from the shooting that night.

"There's guys walking around out here with cases worse than mine, killers, walking around right out here," Foster said. "They're walking around, and they've got me back here on death sentence for driving a car."

"You never get over the loss of your child," said Norma LaHood, Michael's mother.

In San Antonio, the LaHood family said justice for their son will come when Foster is in the death chamber.

"There isn't any closure when you lose a child, but I pray, and I'm looking forward to putting this phase to rest," Norma said.

"I regret their loss," Foster said. "I'm sorry, but the bottom line is I didn't kill your son."

As Foster maintains his innocence on death row in Livingston, there were at least three judges in Austin on his latest court case that agreed he may have that claim to innocence.

The dissenting judges from the Court of Criminal Appeals said new evidence after trial may have cleared Foster, but the five in the majority outweighed their opinions.

"When we had three saying we acknowledge that your innocence does exist, I mean, it still gave me pieces of hope," Foster said.

Yet hope is not gone for a family that has lost its son.

"I challenge them to get the whole story on whatever individual they're supporting, to find out truly, to get the facts of the case not the person on death row's version," said Nico LaHood, Michael's brother.

A version played out in Foster's possibly final conversations for a crime he said he didn't commit.

"If they want me on the gurney, they're going to have to pack me, and they're going to have to throw me on there," Foster said. "I'm not going to get on there, and I'm not going to walk, because this is wrong. What you're doing is wrong, and I want you to remember this!"

A director with the board of pardons and parole said Wednesday she expects the board to rule on the case on or around Aug. 28, two days before Foster is scheduled to die.

If the board recommends a stay, only then will Perry review the case.