Execution date set for man convicted of killing HPD officer in 1990

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- An execution date has been set for a man convicted of murdering a Houston police officer in 1990.

Carl Wayne Buntion is scheduled to be executed on April 21, 2022 for the shooting death of Houston police officer James Irby, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced Tuesday.

"He shot a policeman in the head more than 30 years ago, and it is time that he be held accountable for his horrific crime," Ogg said in a release. "He robbed Officer Irby of his life and deprived the Irby family of a lifetime of memories with him; it is time for them to have justice."

The video above is from 2012, when Buntion was re-sentenced to death in Irby's murder.

Buntion was a passenger in a car that was pulled over by Irby at the intersection of Airline Drive and Lyerly Street on June 27, 1990.

While Irby was talking to the driver, Buntion reportedly slipped out of the vehicle and shot Irby once in the head. He then shot him two more times in the back after he fell to the ground.

Buntion fired at others as he ran away, before being caught in a nearby building.

He was found guilty of capital murder in Irby's death in 1991 and re-sentenced to death by a jury in 2012.

According to the district attorney's office, Buntion was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang and had an extensive criminal record, including 13 prior felony convictions, before the capital murder conviction.