Kenneth Foster (criminal)

For the British politician, see Ken Foster.

The Ellis Unit housed the State of Texas death row for men until mid-1999.

Allan B. Polunsky Unit houses the State of Texas death row for men.

Kenneth Foster, Jr. (born October 22, 1976) is a prisoner formerly on death row in Texas, convicted under the law of parties. He was convicted of murdering Michael LaHood in August 1996. His conviction and execution were contested because he was convicted under a law of parties, not for physically committing the crime.

Foster, Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) death row #999232, was received on death row on July 1, 1997. He was initially located in the Ellis Unit, but was transferred to the Allan B. Polunsky Unit (formerly the Terrell Unit) in 1999.

Texas Governor Rick Perry commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment only three hours before the execution was scheduled to take place on August 30, 2007. Kenneth Foster, Jr. will be eligible for parole in 2037. He is currently incarcerated at the Robertson Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and is assigned to the facility's administrative segregation.

External links

• Man to Be Executed, Although Prosecutors Say He Didn't Kill (ABC News)
• The Case of Kenneth Foster: Texas Prepares to Execute Man for Driving a Car Near Scene of Murder (Democracy Now)
• "Free Kenneth Foster" website
• Kenneth Foster Interview, July 25, 2007 (Archive.org)
• "Lone Star Statement - poem performed by Kenneth Foster on Death Row" (Video)