Texas once allowed death row inmates to choose their final meal—but that ended in 2011, all because of one man: Lawrence Russell Brewer.
Brewer, sentenced to death for the brutal 1998 murder of James Byrd Jr., made headlines with his outrageous last meal request. His order included fried okra, chicken-fried steaks, a cheese omelette, a meat-lover’s pizza, a pound of barbecue, fajitas, ice cream, peanut butter fudge, and multiple sodas.
But when the massive meal arrived, Brewer didn’t eat a single bite. He simply said he wasn’t hungry.
This move outraged state senator John Whitmire, who said Brewer was trying to “make a mockery of the system.” The incident led Texas to permanently cancel the tradition—ending a practice that had existed since 1924.
Interestingly, just days before Brewer’s execution, another inmate, Steven Woods, also ordered an enormous meal. But it was Brewer’s stunt that ended last meals for all.
Since then, Texas inmates on death row no longer get to choose their final dish.
