Texas executed Licho Escamilla on October 14, 2015, for the 2001 murder of Dallas police officer Christopher Kevin James, an off-duty officer who was shot while working security outside a northwest Dallas nightclub. Escamilla, 33, was pronounced dead at 6:31 p.m. at the Huntsville Unit, 18 minutes after the lethal injection began.
The case began during Thanksgiving weekend in November 2001, when James and other uniformed Dallas officers were working off-duty security at a club. A fight broke out, and prosecutors said Escamilla retrieved a gun and opened fire. James was hit twice, fell to the ground, and was then shot three more times in the back of the head.
Escamilla was already wanted in connection with another killing when he encountered Officer James. After the nightclub shooting, authorities said he continued exchanging gunfire with police as he tried to escape. Two Dallas officers eventually captured him following the shootout, turning the violent scene outside the club into a capital murder investigation.
At trial in 2002, prosecutors argued that Escamilla deliberately executed a police officer after James had already been disabled. He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. Former prosecutor Howard Blackmon later said the manner of the shooting and Escamilla’s prior violence showed the danger he posed.
Escamilla spent roughly 13 years on Texas death row as his appeals moved through the courts. His attorneys later argued that jurors should have heard more mitigating evidence about his childhood and substance abuse issues, but federal courts rejected those claims, and the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately declined to stop the execution.
In the execution chamber, Escamilla looked toward Officer James’ daughter and said, “God bless your heart.” He then thanked family and supporters before criticizing the state’s decision to put him to death. His final words ended with, “Warden, that’s it,” before prison officials administered the lethal dose of pentobarbital.
After the execution, the James family said justice had finally been served for Christopher Kevin James, known to loved ones as “K.J.” They said they would always grieve the loss of a man remembered as a devoted public servant. The case remains one of Dallas’ most painful police killings, defined by a nightclub fight, a fatal ambush, a capital murder conviction, and a final legal chapter carried out in Huntsville more than a decade later.
