Couple's still-grieving children break silence

The Post and Courier

James Earl Reed

Moments after James Earl Reed was put to death in the electric chair Friday for the double murder of Joseph and Barbara Ann Lafayette, the victims' family broke 14 years of silence.

Marsha Lafayette Aleem, the youngest daughter of the Lafayettes, spoke to the media from notes on flowered stationary. "You've gotten to know a lot about James Earl Reed," she said. "Now it's time to know my parents."

Prior to the execution, the family held a strong, silent front to the media. Their reason for doing so was simple: to deny Reed any pleasure he might draw from their pain.

Also, any delay of the execution was regarded as further victimization of the family, Aleem said.

In 1994, Reed shot and killed the Lafayettes in their Adams Run home when Reed went there looking for one of their daughters, his ex-girlfriend.

The Lafayettes were the parents of three children, all of whom serve different branches of the military.

Aleem, 37, serves in the Air Force and lives in Tampa, Fla. She and two of her uncles witnessed the execution.

"My reasoning for witnessing the execution is that my brother, sister and I were away in the military and unable to defend them," Aleem said by telephone Saturday.

"My duty is to see justice delivered to him."

After Reed was pronounced dead, Aleem spoke to the media of the sacrifices her parents made raising three children and putting them all through college.

"They are the ones that made the ultimate sacrifice," Aleem said during the press conference. Prosecutors in the 1996 trial allege Reed shot the Lafayettes when they refused to disclose their eldest daughter's whereabouts.

Laurie Rego, 42, who met Reed when they were both in the Army, now lives in Georgia and is a battalion commander for a unit that trains Reserve and National Guard members for war.

Rego said in a telephone interview, "My mom was very much into God and her church. She was the go-to person for a lot of people who needed help." Her father was a quiet man with strong conviction, she said.

The intervening years have been hard for the family.

"We've managed but it's been difficult," Rego said

Joseph Charles Lafayette, 39, the couple's son, recently retired from the Navy and lives in his parents' brick home, a place full of memories.

"I just can't let the house go," he said. "That would really deter everything they worked for." His parents had paid off the house in full.

The Lafayettes were a hardworking couple who instilled principles of fairness and the value of education in their children, their son said. "They made sure we were raised very well," he said. The elder Joseph Lafayette worked as a janitor for the Charleston County School District. Barbara Ann Lafayette was a receptionist at a health clinic and also worked as a self-employed insurance agent.

Joseph Charles Lafayette's two sons, ages 6 and 4, were born after their grandparents' deaths. "There's a lot of sorrow," he said. "My kids will never see their grandparents."

Aleem described the last-minute motion to stay the execution and the ensuing flurry of paperwork between lawyers and courts as gut-wrenching.

"Every 30 minutes there was something," she said. "It was very difficult to deal with that because Reed acted as judge, jury and prosecutor."

Lawyers unrelated to the case filed motions to stay the execution in the U.S. District Court, the 4th Circuit Court in Richmond, Va., and the U.S. Supreme Court, delaying the execution by more than five hours.

Reed did not contact the lawyers who filed the motion. Lawyers may intervene on a person's behalf if they think that something is taking place that is unjust or unconstitutional.

The motion to stay was based on a Supreme Court decision Thursday that said a defendant can be ruled competent to stand trial but incapable of acting as his own lawyer. The case is Indiana v. Edwards.

Reed's competence was an issue during his double-murder trial, in which he represented himself. Reed had an IQ of 77. A normal IQ ranges from 85-115.

The S.C. Attorney General's office fought each motion through the evening in order for the execution to go forward before 11:59 p.m., when the death order expired.

"We're grateful to the state Attorney General and his team for being proactive and relentless in seeing justice served," Aleem said.

Reach Jill Coley at 937-5719 or jcoley@postandcourier.com.