In Rare Move, Texas Gov. Commutes Inmate's Death Sentence

Aug. 30, 2007 -- Kenneth Foster, the man sentenced to die this evening even though he did not pull the trigger that killed Michael LaHood Jr. in 1996, was spared today by Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

"After carefully considering the facts of this case, along with the recommendations from the Board of Pardons and Paroles, I believe the right and just decision is to commute Foster's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment," Perry said in a statement. "I am concerned about Texas law that allows capital murder defendants to be tried simultaneously, and it is an issue I think the legislature should examine."

Foster will now only serve a life sentence. A spokeswoman for the Governor said that Foster will be eligible for parole beginning in 2036. He had been tried for the murder alongside Mauriceo Brown, who shot LaHood after attempting to rob him. Brown was executed for the murder last year.

Perry's decision came about an hour after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted 6-1 to recommend that Perry commute the sentence.

Foster was set to be executed for LaHood's murder. He did not actually pull the trigger that killed the man, but was convicted under a Texas law that makes an accomplice to murder subject to the death penalty.

Hampton had told ABCNEWS.com earlier this month that he was not hopeful that Foster's appeal would be granted. "The odds are extremely low," he said then.

Foster's wife, Tasha Narez-Foster, was breathless and ecstatic after she heard news that clemency was granted.

"As soon as I realized what was happening I was crying….I just just crying and now everything is going to be fine," Narez-Foster told ABCNEWS.com. "Right now we're just going to buy a bottle of champagne, open it up, and celebrate."

Though she has not talked to Foster since news of Perry's clemency was handed down, she was with him when he heard that the Board of Pardons and Paroles had recommended clemency.

"Kenneth, his head fell to the table, he was hiding his head in his hands. It was just, oh – I cannot begin to express what we're feeling right now," she exclaimed.

Foster was on death row today stemming from an incident in the early morning of Aug. 15, 1996. Foster, who was 19 at the time, had been driving around drunk and high on marijuana with three friends, committing armed robberies. At about 2 a.m., Foster's passenger, Mauriceo Brown, jumped out of the car, approached LaHood as he stood with his girlfriend, and tried to rob him. With Foster sitting in the car about 80 feet away, Brown shot and killed LaHood.