Execution of Antonio James

[1] James had amassed a very extensive juvenile and criminal record by the time he was tried for the murder of Silver.

James was convicted of the January 23, 1979, first degree murder of Alvin Adams and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

He was convicted of the January 26, 1979, armed robbery of Robert Hooten and was sentenced to 99 years for this offense, the maximum under Louisiana law.

[citation needed] On January 1, 1979, James approached 70-year-old Henry Silver as the latter was getting out of his car in his neighborhood in New Orleans.

In December 1981, a jury found him guilty as charged at a trial where the principal witness against James was his accomplice, Levon Price.

[2] On March 1, 1996, James was executed by lethal injection at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at the age of 42.

Warden Burl Cain requested that James make a fist in order to assist the process.

James's execution was the subject of an ABC News documentary on Prime Time Live.