Execution of Charles Brooks Jr.

Charles Brooks jr.
Born
Charles Brooks Jr.

(1942-09-01)September 1, 1942
DiedDecember 7, 1982(1982-12-07) (aged 40)
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Criminal statusExecuted
ConvictionsFederal
Illegal possession of weapons
Texas
Capital murder
Details
VictimsDavid P. Gregory, 26
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
Date apprehended
December 14, 1976

The execution of Charles Brooks Jr. (September 1, 1942 – December 7, 1982), also known as Shareef Ahmad Abdul-Rahim, was carried out on December 7, 1982, at the Huntsville Unit in Texas. Brooks Jr., then 34, murdered 26-year-old mechanic David Preston Gregory (March 29, 1950 – December 14, 1976) in Fort Worth, Texas. Brooks Jr. was convicted and sentenced to death in 1977. Brooks Jr. was the first person in the United States to be executed using the, then, newly adopted method of lethal injection. He was also the first prisoner executed in Texas since 1964, and the first African-American to be executed anywhere in the United States in the post-Gregg era.