Melvin Wayne White (January 25, 1950 – November 3, 2005) was an American murderer executed by the state of Texas by lethal injection. He was convicted of the August 5, 1997 kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 9-year-old Jennifer Lee Gravell. Crime On the night of August 4, 1997, there was a barbecue in the neighborhood of Ozona, Texas where Gravell and White both lived. Some time between 10:30 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Gravell went to the home of White, who lived two houses down the street from her. She was looking for someone to go for a ride with. He kidnapped her and took her in his truck to a rest area out of the city. There he sexually assaulted her, but she resisted, so White bound her arms behind her back with electrical tape and gagged her with a sock. He would later admit to penetrating her with his finger. He fled the rest area with Gravell after another car arrived. After taking her to another location he killed her by repeatedly striking her head with a tire iron. He dumped her body behind a water tank in a field outside of town. Trials and appeals After witnesses reported they had seen White leave his home with a young girl in the passenger seat of his truck, he was arrested and immediately confessed to the crime. He told police where Gravell's body could be found. In a trash can at White's home, underpants, sandals, and a ball of electrical tape with her hair in it were found. On August 15 he was indicted for her capital murder. After being found guilty of Gravell's capital murder on June 10, 1999, he was sentenced to death during the separate penalty phase of the trial on June 14. White, Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ# 999317), was received by the prison system on June 21, 1999. While on death row he was held at Allan B. Polunsky Unit (formerly the Terrell Unit) near Livingston, Texas. As with all death sentences in Texas, it was automatically appealed to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which on January 31, 2001, upheld the sentence and conviction. White appealed for writ of habeas corpus to the trial court, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and U.S. district court. All were denied. He also filed a motion for a certificate of appealability, which was likewise denied by