IN MEMORY OF FRANK MEZIERE (DIED: MARCH 26, 1998)

            Let us not forget Frank Meziere who was murdered on this date, March 26, 1998. The Killer, Yokamon Laneal Hearn was executed by lethal injection in Texas on July 18, 2012. Let us hear from his family members:

Frank Meziere

Summary: Frank Meziere had watched a Dallas Mavericks basketball game at a restaurant with a friend and before heading home decided to stop at a self-service car wash to clean his black Mustang convertible. The 23-year-old Plano stockbroker, a 1996 Texas A&M University graduate, never made it home. His body was found the next day, March 26, 1998, along the side of a road in an industrial area of Oak Cliff, an area of south Dallas. Evidence admitted at trial established that on March 25, 1998, then 19-year-old Yokamon Laneal Hearn and three others drove to North Dallas for the expressed purpose of making some money. The group carried with them two shotguns, a .22 caliber pistol, and a Tec-9 automatic. At about 10:30 p.m. the group observed Frank Meziere preparing to wash his 1994 Mustang in a coin-operated car wash. Hearn devised a plan to steal the car and instructed his accomplices how to proceed. Hearn and his companions abducted Frank Meziere at gunpoint and drove him to a secluded location where Hearn used the Tec-9 to shoot Meziere in the face. Meziere died as the result of twelve close-range gunshot wounds to the head and upper body. The assailants then took Frank's wallet and personal items. Hearn then drove away in Meziere’s Mustang in search of a “chop shop” for stolen cars. A city electrician discovered Meziere’s body in a patch of grass in a roadside field around 6:00 am the next morning. Two hours later a patrol officer discovered Meziere’s abandoned Mustang in a shopping center parking lot. Hearn and his companions were caught on videotape by a security camera at a convenience store adjacent to the car wash. Hearn and Delvin Diles were arrested several days later when police acted on a tip they received. Meziere's father said at the time, "I just hope justice can be done as soon as possible. I've always been in favor of the death penalty, and I stand by that now." Dallas County criminal records showed Diles had received 5 years of probation the previous summer after pleading guilty to a felony burglary charge; Hearn had been charged with misdemeanor theft, a case which was still pending at the time of Frank's murder. Physical evidence linked both Hearn and Diles to the car. Diles, 19 at the time, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to consecutive life terms for Meziere's death and an unrelated aggravated robbery. Teresa Shirley, then 19, and Dwight Burley, then 20, were arrested more than 8 months later. Each pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and received 10-year prison sentences. At Hearn's trial, Shirley testified that she was the driver of the second car. She said that Meziere had his arms raised and appeared to be begging for his life as Hearn swung a Tec-9 semiautomatic rifle back and forth. The rifle, Shirley testified, had been stolen in an apartment burglary the previous day. Hearn fired at Meziere and kept shooting him even after he fell to the ground. Diles also shot at the victim several times with his revolver, she testified. Shirley further testified that Hearn later bragged about the killing. She said he waved around a newspaper account stating that Meziere had been shot in the head - or "domed" in street slang, and he told her, "I told you I domed him. I told you. I told you." At age 19, Hearn had no prior felony convictions. Testimony at his punishment hearing indicated that he had an unadjudicated history of burglary, robbery, sexual assault, and other offenses. A jury convicted Hearn of capital murder in December 1998 and sentenced him to death.

Frank Meziere’s father, brother and uncle were among those who witnessed Hearn’s lethal injection. “We did not come today to view this execution for revenge or to even the score,” the family said afterward in a statement. “What this does is give our family and friends the knowledge that Mr. Hearn will not have the opportunity to hurt anyone else.”