Criminal charge Murder Victims Justin Hurst | Criminal penalty Death penalty | |
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Died 27 January 2016, Huntsville, Texas, United States | ||
James Garrett Freeman (November 12, 1980 – January 27, 2016) was an American man who was convicted, sentenced to death, and executed for murder in Texas.
Freeman originated from Lissie, an unincorporated area in Wharton County, Texas. He was a welder, but was unemployed at the time he committed murder. He had no record of violence. On March 17, 2007 Freeman engaged in a high-speed chase with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) officers. At the Lissie Cemetery, where the chase ended, he fired at TPWD staff with an AK-47 and a Glock pistol. Justin Hurst, a 34-year old TPWD game warden, was struck twice and killed. Hurst had turned 34 that day. Freeman was shot four times and survived.
Freeman, Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ)#999539, was convicted and sentenced to death. While on death row he was in Polunsky Unit. He was executed at Huntsville Unit on January 27, 2016, nine years after the murder.
The Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area (WMA) of the TPWD, located in Brazoria County, Texas, was renamed after the victim in 2007. It was formerly the Peach Point WMA.
