| May 9, 00:35 a.m. Death Row Inmate Lynda Lyon's Exclusive Interview, Part # 2 Lynda Lyon will be the first woman in 45-years to be electrocuted in Alabama and could be the last person to face the electric chair. The state will begin using lethal injections in a couple of months. Lyon is representing herself and the Department of Corrections says so far there have been no last minute appeals filed and no requests for a stay. In an exclusive telephone interview last Thursday, Lynda Lyon talked with Eileen Jones about what she's going through now. This is part two of that interview. Eight and a half years ago Lynda Lyon first arrived at Tutwiler prison to start serving her time on death row. Then, her last name was Block, but now she says she's dropped her married name and only uses Lynda Lyon. As she made her way to the back door of the prison, she didn't want to be shown in her handcuffs and shackles as she headed to a cell to wait until it was time for her execution. When asked what her final words might be, just before her execution, Lyon answered, "Nothing." As to why she wouldn't have any last words, Lyon simply replied, "There isn't any more I can say." As to what she would say to the family of Sgt. Motley, "If I could speak to them I would only say that I am very sorry that the whole thing had to happen. If it could have been avoided believe me, I would have been the first person to try to avoid it. But, it happened and unfortunately the officer is dead." Roger Motley's widow says Lyon "destroyed a family that was wonderful." Juanita Motley is anxious as 12:01a.m. Friday approaches. She says she's still angry at Lynda Lyon for what she has been taken from her family. "His two children basically grew up from the ages of 14 and 11 or 12 without their father. I feel anger towards her for that. She took my husband. I feel anger towards her for that." Lyon says she understands Juanita Motley's feelings. "I can understand her being angry and she probably always will be - no matter what. But I hope that one day she will try to understand my position. I had nothing against Sgt. Motley. I didn't even know him and it was a horrifying situation to find myself shooting at a police officer. You have no idea what it was like for me," says Lyon. Lynda Lyon says she's innocent because she says she shot at officer Motley in self defense. She feels her execution is all about politics. Lyon, whose home is in Orlando, Florida, says she also feels misunderstood by the people here. "I wish that the people of Alabama had been able to see the other me, the part of me that I really am and not the part that I have been made out to be. I love my country and I would never do anything to dishonor my country, my family, or my children and unfortunately Alabama has never been able to see that side of me." In the meantime, Roger Motley's widow say she's torn about Lynda Lyon and what Motley sees "as a little humanity coming through." She says she doesn't hate Lyon as a person, but does hate what she did. Juanita Motley says she does plan to be with Sgt. Motley's mother and sister to witness the execution at 12:01 Friday morning. |
| May 8, 7:45 p.m. Death Row Inmate Lynda Lyon's Exclusive Interview, Part # 1 The first execution of a woman in Alabama in almost forty-five years is schedule to take place Friday morning at 12:01 a.m. Lynda Lyon has been moved from death row at Tutwiler Prison to a holding cell near the execution chamber at Holman Prison in Atmore. Lyon had an exclusive interview with Eileen Jones by phone last week, before her move to Atmore. There's been a lot of publicity recently about Channel 12's attempts to get an on-camera interview with death row inmate Lynda Lyon. We wanted to do it for several reasons. Among them to provide information on what a death row inmate goes through, emotionally and mentally, days before her execution. Then, it will be up to you to decide how you feel about her and her situation. Also, she is the first woman to die in the electric chair in almost 45 years, and she may be the last person electrocuted in this fashion, since the state is moving to the lethal injection method in a couple of months. While the request for a video interview was denied in court, we did do a telephone interview with her last Thursday. So, what is she thinking and feeling just days before she is scheduled to die? Lynda Lyon has spent the past eight and a half years on death row for killing an Opelika police officer. Sgt. Roger Motley died after Lyon and her common law husband George Sibley exchanged gun fire in the Wal Mart parking lot. Now, with her execution getting closer, she says she's calm. "It's something everyone of us on death row has to deal with sooner or later - better sooner than later." It was in October of 1993 that Sgt. Motley stopped in the Wal Mart parking lot to check on a report that a child was left alone in a car. Motley and Sibley exchanged a few words. Lynda Lyon was a few feet away with her back to them on the telephone, that is, until she heard the gunshots and then she says she ran and started firing too. Because she says her actions were in self defense, she says she's innocent. And, that's one of the reasons Roger Motley's widow, Juanita Motley, is finding her story hard to take. "I still see no remorse for any part if it. So, at this point I've just decided whatever happens, it's just the justice of it. She's going to have to pay for what she's done." Lynda Lyon was asked about her reaction to that. "Do you feel any remorse?" "Well no. Remorse no, and I'll tell you why, because under the law I wasn't guilty other than just defending my husband. But regret, oh yes, I have felt regret from the moment it happened." And, the moment after the shooting stopped the couple rushed from the parking lot but were later cornered by a police roadblock. The two were in a stand-off with officers for four hours before surrendering. That's when Lynda Lyon says she learned that officer Motley had died. "When they told me he was dead, I broke down and cried and I still cry. It's horrible, and to find out he had children, but that's something I can't take back." If everything goes as planned, unlike most people, she knows exactly when she's going to die and how. As scary as that might be for some, she says she's not scared at all. "It's not as difficult as you might think. I'm doing what most people do if they've been told for instance that they had two months to live with cancer. I'm getting all of my affairs in order." There's now only one other thing on her mind - how she dies she says is important to her. "I'm not concerned other than I hope I act with dignity." At the end you mean? "Yes, it's important to me." Why? "Because everyone dies, and I try and do everything in my life with dignity." The widow of Sgt. Roger Motley, Juanita Motley, says this is the first time in eight and a half years she's heard sorrow from Lynda Lyon, but she says she's having a hard time separating the person from what she did, and she still thinks the person who killed her husband needs to be punished. As far as Lynda Lyon is concerned, the Department of Corrections says she has had only one visitor today and that was her spiritual leader from Orlando, Florida which is her home. The department also says she has made no other requests for family or friends to come and see her. Lynda Lyon fired all of her attorneys during her trial almost nine years ago, and has refused other offers for legal help. So far, no last minute appeals or requests for a stay have been filed. |
