A single unpitted black olive. One pot of black coffee. These are two last meals ordered by death row inmates the night before their executions.
However, white supremacist Lawrence Russell Brewer, who was executed in 2011 for his part in the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd, Jr. (a black man from East Texas), requested a meat lovers' pizza; a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger;three fajitas; one pound of barbecue; a half loaf of white bread; two chicken fried steaks smothered in gravy and onions; a cheese omelet with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, and bell and jalapeno peppers; and a big bowl of fried okra with ketchup. But wait! What about dessert? One pint of Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell ice cream, one slab of peanut butter fudge with crushed peanuts, and three root beers to wash it all down.
He ate none of it.
This convinced Texas officials to end the state's traditional practice of allowing death row inmates to order a "last meal" of their choosing. Most states will honor any requests from inmates that can be prepared in-house, but Lawrence Russell Brewer ruined it for Texas with his over-the-top culinary requests that he did not even taste. Perhaps the most creative request? Inmate Odell Barnes, Jr., Also of Texas, who requested "justice, equality, and world peace"before his execution in 2000. Texas couldn't give him that either.
