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Allen
Winslow BRIDGERS
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Robbery
- Bridgers had been living with
the victim
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
May 23,
1997
Date of arrest: 5 days after
Date of birth:
March 6,
1971
Victim profile: Mary
Amie, 53
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Smith County, Texas, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on May 14, 1998
Name
TDCJ Number
Date of Birth
Bridgers,
Allen
999267
03/06/1971
Date Received
Age
(when Received)
Education Level
05/14/98
27
10 years
Date of Offense
Age
(at the Offense)
County
05/23/97
27
Smith
Race
Gender
Hair Color
Black
Male
Black
Height
Weight
Eye Color
5-8
153
Brown
Native County
Native State
Prior Occupation
Portsmouth
City
Virginia
Unknown
Prior Prison Record
None
Summary of incident
On May 25,
1997 Bridgers murdered a 53-year-old black female. Bridgers had
been living with the victim and took a .38-caliber revolver and
fatally shot her in the throat. Bridgers then stole her 1985
Lincoln Town car, which he later left at a bus terminal in
Dallas, Texas. Then Bridgers took a bus to Florida. He was
arrested in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on May 28, 1997.
Co-defendants
None
Race and Gender of Victim
Black female
Texas Attorney General
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Media Advisory: Allen Bridgers Scheduled For Execution
AUSTIN — Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott
offers the following information about Allen Bridgers, who is
scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 25, 2006. In
April 1998, Bridgers was convicted and sentenced to death for his
involvement the robbery and shooting death of Mary Amie in Tyler,
Texas. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows.
FACTS OF THE CRIME
On May 23, 1997, Allen Bridgers killed Mary
Amie at her home in Tyler. Bridgers had been living with Amie.
Amie had borrowed about sixteen-hundred dollars
from a bank to build a fence, and she kept that money inside her
purse. Amie also owned about two or three thousand dollars worth
of jewelry that she also kept inside of her pocketbook. Bridgers
confessed that he killed Amie for the money and jewelry. Bridgers
said he shot Amie after she got into bed with him, then grabbed
her purse and the keys to her Lincoln Town Car and ran out the
front door. Amie’s body was discovered on May 25 by a niece.
Five days after Amie was murdered, police in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida took Bridgers into custody on a Texas
arrest warrant. Bridgers gave police a taped statement.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Aug. 21, 1997 - A grand jury indicted
Bridgers for the capital murder of Mary Amie.
Apr. 9, 1998 - Judgment is entered in the
114th Judicial District of Smith County after a jury found
Bridgers guilty of capital murder and following a separate
punishment hearing, the court assessed a sentence of death.
Dec. 29, 1999 - Bridgers filed a state writ
application in the trial court, concurrent with his direct
appeal.
Oct. 25, 2000 - Bridgers’ conviction and
sentence were affirmed on direct appeal by the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals.
May 31, 2000 - The Court of Criminal Appeals
denied Bridgers’ application for state habeas relief and adopted
the findings of the trial court.
Apr. 15, 2002 - Bridgers filed a petition for
writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court.
Mar. 30, 2005 - The federal district court
denied habeas relief.
Dec. 2, 2005 - The 5th U.S. Circuit of
Appeals denied Bridgers a certificate of appealability.
Mar. 24, 2006 - Bridgers petitioned the U.S.
Supreme Court for certiorari review.
June 26, 2006 - The U.S. Supreme Court denied
certiorari review
PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY
Bridgers was previously convicted in federal court of reckless
driving, attempting to evade police officers, and carrying a
concealed weapon. Further, Bridgers has prior convictions in the
State of Georgia for burglary and credit card fraud.
Allen Bridgers
ProDeathPenalty.com
On May 25,
1997, the body of Mary Amie was discovered by her niece at her
home in Tyler, Texas. That same day Allen Bridgers flew from the
Dallas-Fort Worth airport to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Three days
later on May 28, Fort Lauderdale Police Department received
information from Crime Stoppers regarding a possible suspect
wanted in Texas for murder. Bridgers was arrested and confessed
to murdering Mary and taking her purse, jewelry and car.
Bridgers had
been living with Mary at her trailer home for several weeks
after being introduced by the woman's nephew, a truck driver who
brought Bridgers to Texas from Norfolk, Va., where Bridgers'
family lived.
Acting on a tip
from an informant, police in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., arrested
Bridgers three days after Amie's body was found by a niece. He
then confessed to the shooting, saying he knew Amie was carrying
in her purse several thousand dollars, including money she had
borrowed from a bank to build a fence around her place.
He said after
she climbed into bed, he pulled out a .38-caliber revolver she
kept beside her bed and pulled the trigger. The first shot
misfired. A second wounded her in the back. He told police he
fired two more times into her throat because he "didn't want
nobody to hear her hollering."
Then he grabbed
her purse and the keys to her Lincoln Town Car and drove off. He
used some of the money for crack, for two women he took to a
motel room, then drove to Dallas, where he left the car parked
near a bus station, pawned jewelry that was in the purse and
bought a plane ticket to Florida.
UPDATE:
A man convicted of fatally shooting a Tyler woman at her home
and stealing jewelry, money and her car has won a temporary
reprieve from execution after his lawyers argued he is mentally
handicapped. Allen Bridgers, had been scheduled to die by lethal
injection Tuesday night. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
on Friday ordered his case back to Smith County for the trial
court to consider whether he is mentally handicapped. The U.S.
Supreme Court has ruled that mentally handicapped people cannot
be executed. "I'm guilty of the crime but I wasn't in the right
frame of mind," Bridgers said. "I took a life but I shouldn't go
pay for it with my life. It's like them playing God. I just want
people to understand I'm not a bad person. I'm no serial killer.
I just made a mistake." Bridgers' case will go before District
Judge Cynthia Kent, who presided over his trial.
PenPal request
Lampofhope.org
My name is Allen Winslow Bridgers and I am currently confined to
Texas’s notorious death row.
For the last seven years of my life has been a
delicate balance between hope and hopelessness between growth and
despair. There have been times when I felt positive about my
chance of getting off death row, on the brink of a court ruling or
after receiving some good news from my attorney. But those times
are few and far between. I am under no illusion about what the
state of Texas intends for me and I must admit the whole idea
makes it hard for me to sleep some nights. I am not afraid to dies,
yet I am afraid I’ll never get out and share the world with the
man I’ve grown into. When I came to Death Row I could hardly read
and write. Over the years I taught myself by spelling words from
the dictionary. As I grew to understand more words I began to have
a deeper appreciation of life. That along with all the people I’ve
seen get executed over the years has made me more compassionate
person. I am still not a very good writer but I am learning more
everyday.
With this website, I hope to introduce you to
my plight and the critical state of appeals. I desperately need to
hire an appeal specialist and possibly an investigator in order to
expose the injustices prevailing my case.
If you would like to learn more about the
issues surrounding my conviction, I would be glad to share them
with you. Moreover, I look forward to developing friendships with
people on the outside. I am a normal guy who has views, opinions
and concerns like most people. I know that death row is often
sensationalized in the media (we are all mass murderers according
to the television). So I often find myself having to prove my
humanity to people before the can feel comfortable sharing
themselves with me. If anything please know I am none of what you
expect me to be.
I was born and raised in Norfolk, VA and my
family members still live in Virginia and Georgia. My birthday is
on the 6th of March, so I’m 34 years old. I am a strong non-denominational
Christian believer.
My hobbies are old and fast cars, basketball,
football, reading and just having fun in life. My favorite author
is James Patterson and my favorite books by him are the Alex Cross
series. I am currently reading his latest called Hollywood. I grew
up around the ocean all my life, so my favorite food is seafood,
and I love butter pecan ice cream.
I enjoy listening to all types of music because
I am in a cell 23 hours a day alone. Texas death row inmates are
not allowed to have a television, so I spend a lot of time
listening to my radio or reading a good book. My love for music is
Jazz, because it helps me relax my mind and body. Ay favorite
musician is Sade because every song she sings makes me feel as
though I were sharing the same feelings, so I feel very close to
her music.
I look forward to a true person who is willing
to correspond with me. I welcome all sexes, races, and religions
to write.
