Mentally Retarded Murderer Executed In Texas

A retarded man who fatally stabbed and disemboweled a restaurant manager during a robbery was executed by injection Tuesday.

Jerry Washington, 33, was convicted in the January 1987 murder of Beatrice Huling, 29, a mother of two who was tied up with apron strings and tortured with shallow knife wounds before being killed.

Washington’s attorneys argued that he did not deserve to die because of his mental retardation. They compared him to a 6- or 8-year-old.

“He’s like a child in that he doesn’t seem to understand that this is it, his life will be over,” lawyer Dina Hellerstein said. “He maintains his innocence and always has.”

She said the jury that sentenced Washington did not know about his mental impairments.

Prosecutors, however, described Washington as only borderline or mildly retarded. They pointed out that he was able to hold a job and plan the crime.

Washington worked as a dishwasher at the restaurant where Huling was the night manager.

Her body was found in the restaurant kitchen, and $628 was missing. Washington, who dropped out of school after the ninth-grade, was arrested a month later.