Ramona Brooks has been found guilty of first degree murder and is sentenced to death by hanging . After the sentence she was transported to the High Security Prison for Woman.
In her cell she wears the orange overall and like all other prisoners on Death Row she is restrained with handcuffs, belly chain and legirons 24 hours a day . During the night her hands are cuffed behind and an iron collar is added to her restraints . She will remain in solitary confinement until the day of the execution which is fixed to the 16th January 2002
As her crime was very vicious it was decided that she would be executed by slow hanging . At 5.00 pm she was escorted to the gallows room by 2 guards . She was handcuffed in the back and wore the same blue and white dress which she had at her trial . Next to the execution room was a small room reserved to the witnesses which could view the whole procedure through a window . Present were the parents of the baby , Ramona's lawyer , the D.A. and prison officials . For the press were attending : Sandy Lyons, Huntsville Post, Leslie Nilsen, Associated Press, Jonny Stecchino, KMOL-TV, San Antonio, Don Martino, Catholic News Agency . She was placed on the trapdoor and the noose was slipped over her head .
The executioner put the knot behind her head so that she would be slowly strangulated and pulled the rope up very high so that the girl had to stand upright . Her last words were :"Fuck you !" then the lever was pulled , the trapdoor opened with a loud bang but she fell only a few inches .
The rope bit tightly into the smooth skin of her neck, She swung and kicked desperately, seeking a foothold that was not there. After several minutes of hanging by her neck, her face turned a nasty purple color and her tongue bulged out luridly. She dangled and twisted at the rope's end for what seemed a terribly long time . Her bladder opened up and a thin stream of urine trickled down her legs. Finally, she lost conciousness and hung still, her feet pointing straight down. At 5.10 she was declared dead and the curtain on the visitors window was pulled . She was left hanging another full hour before her body was taken down and sent to the Legal Institute
