Demarco Markeith McCullum, 30, was executed November 9, 2004 at 6:17 p.m. by lethal injection in the Walls Correctional Facility at Huntsville, Texas for the July 30, 1994 murder of Michael James Burzinski, 29.

McCullum seemed poised for success in 1994, the year he graduated from Aldine High School. He was the starting quarterback, won a football scholarship to Tyler Junior College, and was generally admired by teachers and coaches for his courteous, respectful behavior. Friendly and sociable, he was voted "Mr. Aldine" by his classmates. He had no prior exposure to the criminal justice system, but evidence was presented tying him to a series of shootings, robberies and assaults that summer. Along with classmates Terrance Perro, 19, Decedrick Gainous, 18, and Christopher Lewis, 17, and needing money to buy clothes for school, McCullum decided to go to Montrose and wait outside one of the gay clubs for a victim, because they had been told homosexuals "had money and were easy targets." The four spotted Michael Burzinski, 29, as he left Heaven, a nightclub in the gay section of Houston. Burzinski was hit in the head as he unlocked his car door, then forced into the back seat of his car. The four teens beat their victim as they drove him to the West Little York area in northwest Houston, where they used Burzinski 's bank card to steal $400. Then they drove Burzinski to a secluded area, where he was shot in the head and dumped. His car was found later, burned, near the neighborhood of the suspects. In a statement to police, McCullum said he shot Burzinski "because that is what everybody said I should do." Accomplice Perro pleaded no contest to aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, and accomplice Gainous was convicted of capital murder. Both are serving life sentences. Accomplice Lewis pleaded no contest to aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was recently paroled.

∼Convicted in the abduction and murder of 29-year-old Michael Burzinski. McCullum and three co-defendants accosted and then abducted Burzinski in the Montrose area of Houston, forcing him to drive to an ATM machine where $400.00 was withdrawn from his account. The accomplices then drove Burzinski in his car to an isolated area where he was shot once in the back of the head while he pleaded for his life. The four then drove Burzinski’s car a short distance away and set it afire. McCullum later confessed the killing to police.

Last Statement:
“I do. I just wanted to say to all of those that have supported me over the years that I appreciate it and I love you. And I just want to tell my mom that I love her and I will see her in Heaven.”

Cause of Death: Executed by Lethal Injection in the State of Texas.