Kenneth Foster: A victim of racist, ironic injustice

New Boston, Texas

Kenneth Foster was unjustly sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Nov. 15 in the small rural East Texas town of New Boston. He was wrongfully convicted of the murder of another prisoner, Anthony Dominguez, at the Telford Unit prison in 2021 in that town.  New Boston, Texas.

Racist injustice? From using enslaved labor for its lumber industry to Jim Crow laws to lynchings to Ku Klux Klan activity — this is the history of the town from which people were chosen for Foster’s jury this week.

According to the Texas Tribune: “Historians tabulating the lynchings and other murders of Black Texans in the 20th century estimate many of them happened in East Texas. The first half of the last century was punctuated by riots. White people burned down sections of their towns where Black people resided and owned businesses and murdered Black people without consequence.

“The Klan and other white supremacist groups have kept strong roots in this part of the state since the Civil War, organizing events in East Texas as recently as a couple of years ago. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, at least two Klan-related groups were active in East Texas in 2019.” (June 17, 2020)

Draconian Law of Parties

Irony? Foster should never have been in prison in the first place. He was sent to death row in 1997 under a draconian Texas legal statute called the Law of Parties.

He and three friends were hanging out in San Antonio, driving around in Foster’s grandfather’s car, when one of his buddies, Mauricio Brown, asked him to pull over so he could talk with someone. The other three men stayed in Foster’s car listening to music when Brown jumped back in the car. 

Brown had killed someone. Both Foster and Brown were tried together and both

received the death penalty, even though Foster not only did not kill anyone but had no idea a murder was going to happen!

When Foster’s execution date was set in 2007, an international grassroots campaign was launched by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Foster’s family and activists from around the country. A large public outcry was in motion. In a rare move, just a few hours before the execution, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry commuted Foster’s sentence to life. It was a joyous victory!

Since then, Foster has been a model prisoner, reading, writing and completing dozens of classes to prepare for his possible parole in 2036. But trouble was awaiting him when he was moved to the Telford Unit a few years ago. Telford

was inexcusably understaffed, guards brought in more drugs than one could find on the streets in the “free world,” and prisoners were unsupervised and unguarded the majority of the time.

Self-defense not murder

Anthony Dominguez, an inmate, was addicted to the readily available drugs, and in November 2021 he was staying high, not sleeping and becoming paranoid, telling others that Foster was out to get him. These two men did not know each other and had never even spoken to each other. Foster learned this from Dominguez’s cellmate, Christian Sibley.

When Foster walked to Dominguez’s cell to tell him not to worry as Foster had no animosity toward him, Dominguez attacked Foster with a shank, a prison homemade knife. Foster defended himself and fatally injured Dominguez.

During a 4-day trial, prison guard after prison official took the stand and lied for the state. But the cellmate, Sibley, did testify to the truth: that the prison had so few employees that guards rarely made their rounds, that there were more drugs in that prison than you could find on the streets, and that 95% of those incarcerated at Telford were using K2 and methamphetamines, many frequently hallucinating.

When asked by Foster’s attorney how this could happen, Sibley truthfully answered, “Institutional malpractice by the Texas prison system!”

Foster’s daughter, Nydesha Foster, and his spouse, Celandria Foster, were totally devastated when a guilty verdict was delivered. The court-appointed attorney had not spoken with family nor friends. 

Foster’s supporters came for the trial from Florida, Las Vegas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Seguin in Texas and Savannah, Georgia.

The jury never learned that since getting off death row, Foster completed paralegal training in 2014 and was getting ready to enter a school to be trained as a prison minister. He completed Anger Management training in 2015, a Peer Health Educator course in 2016 and a “We cannot Walk Alone Leadership Development” program in 2016. The Toastmasters International Gavel Club recognized Foster as a Mighty Man of Valor, and he has over a dozen Toastmasters courses

completed.

Foster’s book, “A Voice from The Killing Machine: A Compilation of Poems and Testimonials” is available on Amazon.

‘Justice for Kenneth Foster!’

Foster called his spouse after the verdict and said to thank everyone for their support and presence in court. He said he was still digesting this verdict, but he would be in touch as to how to proceed.

All agreed that this was an awful setback but certainly not the end of the road. Foster and his supporters fought to get him off death row and won. Before everyone left New Boston, plans were discussed. Everyone agreed on the need to find an excellent appeals attorney and then raise money for the attorney and investigators.

Again, the fight for justice for Kenneth Foster continues, and it will be won!