James Garrett Freeman

{{Short description|American convicted murderer executed in Texas}}

{{infobox criminal

| birth_date = {{birth date|1980|11|12}}

| birth_place = Lissie, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|1|27|1980|11|12}}

| death_place = Huntsville Unit, Huntsville, Texas, U.S.

| victims = Justin Hurst, 34

| conviction = Capital murder

| criminal_status = Executed

| criminal_penalty = Death (November 7, 2008)

| death_cause = Execution by lethal injection

| date = March 17, 2007

}}

File:PolunskyUnitWestLivingstonTX.jpg houses the State of Texas death row for men.]]

File:HuntsvilleUnitHuntsvilleTX.jpg, the location of the Texas state execution chamber.]]

James Garrett Freeman (November 12, 1980"[http://tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_info/freemanjames.html Freeman, James]." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on February 4, 2016. – January 27, 2016[http://tdcj.state.tx.us/death_row/dr_info/freemanjamesllast.html Last Statement Freeman, James]. Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on February 4, 2016.) was an American man who was convicted, sentenced to death, and executed for murder in Texas.

Freeman originated from Lissie, an unincorporated area in Wharton County, Texas. He was a welder, but was unemployed at the time he committed murder. He had no record of violence. On March 17, 2007, Freeman engaged in a high-speed chase with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) officers. At the Lissie Cemetery, where the chase ended, he fired at TPWD staff with an AK-47 and a Glock pistol. Justin Hurst, a TPWD game warden who had turned 34 that day, was struck twice and killed.{{cite news|first=Peggy|last=O'Hare|url=http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy-news/article/Wharton-jury-sentences-game-warden-s-killer-to-1775623.php|title=Wharton jury sentences game warden's killer to death|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=November 7, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120822190534/http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/katy-news/article/Wharton-jury-sentences-game-warden-s-killer-to-1775623.php--%3E|archive-date=August 22, 2012|accessdate=February 4, 2016}} Freeman was shot four times and survived.

Freeman, Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ)#999539, was convicted and sentenced to death. While on death row he was in Polunsky Unit.{{cite news|first=St. John|last=Barned-Smith|url=http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Wharton-County-man-executed-in-killing-of-game-6788802.php|title=Wharton County man executed in killing of game warden|newspaper=Houston Chronicle|date=January 28, 2016|accessdate=February 4, 2016}} He was executed at Huntsville Unit on January 27, 2016, nine years after the murder.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

The Justin Hurst Wildlife Management Area (WMA) of the TPWD, located in Brazoria County, Texas,"[http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/wma/find_a_wma/list/?id=41 Justin Hurst (WMA)]." Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved on March 31, 2016. was renamed after the victim in 2007. It was formerly the Peach Point WMA."[http://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20071015d TPWD Dedicates Justin Hurst WMA in Honor of Fallen Warden]." Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. October 15, 2007. Retrieved on March 31, 2016.