Tommy Lynn Sells Case Study

Tommy Lynn Sells was a man that was sentenced to death for not just one murder, but almost seventy. (Blanco, 2017)He was caught after having murdered a thirteen year old girl name Katy Harris and injuring Krystal Surles. At the time Katy Harris’ father was helping Sells out. He had broken into the house through the window, walked down the hall to the girls room and laid down next to Katy and gently woke her up. She woke up and was confused as to why he was there. He proceeded to slice off her clothes and touch her inappropriately. (Carson, 2014) She immediately jumped up and screamed for help and as a result Sells sliced her throat open twice and stabbed her collapsed body multiple times. (David Carson, 2014) Krystal, who was 10 at the time, witnessed the whole thing and Sells advanced on her after he was done impaling Katy.

Once he was gone Krystal ran to the neighbors and they called 9-1-1. She gave description of her attacker and they went to search for him. Krystal’s mother’s boyfriend claimed that the description reminded him of a man that had been working at the car dealership and that he thought the man’s name was Tommy. (Carson, 2014) Sells was pursued, arrested, identified, by Krystal, and brought into questioning. Krystal survived, but Katy did not and the house had not been robbed of anything but possible evidence that could have been left behind. After being questioned he was found linked and possibly the cause of over 20 other rape and murder victims. However he wasn’t sentenced until 2000. In 2003 the state of Texas found him guilty of the murder of Katy Harris and sentenced him to death on November 8, 2000. He was executed in April of 2014. (Carson, 2014, Blanco,