Man Who Kidnapped, Raped, and Buried Texas Teen Alive Is Executed

Orlando Hall has been convicted in the 1994  abduction and murder of Lisa Rene. He is the eighth federal inmate executed this year.

Hall savagely kidnapped and raped a  16-year-old Texas girl. He then covered her young body with gasoline and buried her alive. The execution, which took place Thursday, comes after a two-decade hiatus. The 49-year old man was pronounced dead at 11:47 p.m. ET. Hall was given a lethal injection at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Hall claims to be a member of The Nation of Islam. However, the crime statement, which was read before execution, shows how heinous and cruel his acts were.“Take care of yourselves. Tell my kids I love them,” was Hall’s last words.

Hall’s attorney, Marcy Widder, argued that racial bias contributed to his sentencing. Widder also attacked the execution protocol and additional constitutional issues. The supreme court denied all last-minute legal changes, and federal executions were resumed under Trump’s administration. Prior to this, only three federal inmates had been executed in 56 years. Two more executions are scheduled for later this year. President-elect Joe Biden hasn’t made any statements in regards to federal executions continuing when he takes office.

Hall was one of the five men convicted in the 1994 abduction and death of Lisa Rene. According to federal court documents, Hall was a drug trafficker from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He arrived in Dallas on Sept. 24, 1994, when he met two of Rene’s brothers at a gas station and paid them $4,700 for marijuana, expecting they would return later with the marijuana. The two men claimed that the car and money had been robbed. Unfortunately, Hall and accomplices believed this to be a lie.

Hall tracked down the brothers’ apartment in Arlington, Texas, where Lisa Rene was the only one home.

“She was studying for a test and had her textbooks on the couch when these guys came knocking on the front door,” retired Arlington detective John Stanton Sr. said.

“My family and I are very relieved that this is over. We have been dealing with this for 26 years, and now we’re having to relive the tragic nightmare that our beloved Lisa went through. Ending this painful process will be a major goal for our family. This is only the end of the legal aftermath. The execution of Orlando Hall will never stop the suffering we continue to endure,” older sister Pearl Rene said.

The Court records displayed the state of terror Lisa Rene was in.  “They’re trying to break down my door! Hurry up!” she told a 911 dispatcher. Her screams were heard shortly after, with a man saying, “Who you on the phone with?” before the line disconnected. Police arrived within minutes only to find Rene and the men gone.

The 5 men held and repeatedly sexually assaulted Rene for two days. On Sept. 26, Hall and two other men drove Rene to Byrd Lake Natural Area in Pine Bluff. They led the terrified 16- year old to a gravesite they had dug a day earlier. Hall took on the enforcer’s role and covered her face, then hit her over the head with a shovel. The young girl screamed and tried to escape. Unfortunately, Hall and one of his buddies used it as an opportunity to alternate beating her with shovels. Orlando Hall ended Lisa Rene’s life. He ruthlessly choked her, dragged her to the gave, poured gasoline over the 16-year old girl’s body, and shoveled over her body.

According to the coroner’s report, Rene’s cause of death was asphyxiation in the grave. She was still alive when he buried her. The young girl’s body was found eight days later.

There seems to be much irony for the alleged ” Brother of Islam.” Orlando and four friends crossed the Texas-Arkansas line making the crime federal. Of the five men  Bruce Webster, also was sentenced to death. Unfortunately, it was appealed due to “intellectually disability.”  Hall’s brother and the other two men rightfully testified during the trial and received lesser sentences.

 Widder released the following statement, “Tonight, the federal government took the life of a man. The world was not made a better place because of his death; rather, we are all diminished by our government’s ruthless desire to kill, and its devaluing of hope and redemption.”