RILEY DOBI NOEL (EXECUTED IN ARKANSAS ON JULY 9, 2003)

            Ten years ago on this date, July 9. 2003, Riley Dobi Noel was executed by lethal injection in Arkansas. He was put to death for the June 4, 1995 murders of three children.  

 

Riley Dobi Noel

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/noel864.htm

Summary: Noel, Carroll, Cochran and Calloway were riding around Little Rock in Cochran's car "getting high." They went to the home of Mary Hussian, whose daughter Noel suspected of being involved in the drive-by killing of his brother. Calloway got out of the car and followed Noel and Carroll into the house. Noel told the three children: Marcell Young (17), Malak Hussian (10), and Mustafa Hussian (12) in the residence to get down on the floor. Calloway testified she watched as Noel shot each of the children in the head and killed them. A co-defendant tried to shoot Mary Hussian with a shotgun but it jammed, and she was able to wrestle it away. Noel testified at the trial against his lawyers' advice and denied killing the children. One of Noel's accomplices received a 20 year prison sentence after he testified on behalf of the state. Another was sentenced to life in prison without parole and the third got 132 years in prison for the three killings. 

Among the witnesses to the execution was Kyle Jones, whose 17-year-old fiance/, Marcell Young, was among the victims. Young was slain along with her younger brother and sister in a southwest Little Rock home on June 4, 1995. Jones was in the house when the killings occurred but escaped by crawling through a window. "I finally feel that justice has been served," Jones said after the execution. "It's been eight long years, and I finally can put this behind me and move on. We as individuals make decisions. He made the decision to take their lives. Today the state of Arkansas made the decision to take his life, and I'm glad for that decision."