'It's time for him to pay': Families of Texas serial killer's victims welcome execution

Two of Garcia Glen White's victims were identical twin sisters who had just celebrated their sweet 16th birthdays the day before they were killed. Another victim was a hard-working dad with big dreams who had just moved his family to the U.S. from Vietnam and left behind seven children.

In all, White confessed to murdering five people in a six-year period and will be executed for his crimes on Tuesday. He will be the sixth man executed in the U.S. in 10 days and the fifth inmate put to death in Texas so far this year.

The families of most of his victims have waited 35 years for White's execution day, which has been delayed repeatedly despite his confession. He was even scheduled for execution in 2015 but won a reprieve with less than 24 hours to spare.

"He has lived longer in prison than my sister lived on this Earth," said Dewanta Washington, a 60-year-old schoolteacher in Houston whose beloved sister, Greta Williams, was beaten to death by White in 1989.

"If you know he did it, he admitted to it, why have all these appeals?" she questioned, saying that her parents died waiting for the execution to happen. "It's time for him to pay the piper. He just needs to go meet his maker."

Now that White's execution appears to be moving forward, USA TODAY spoke with family members of his victims to learn more about their loved ones. These are their stories.

Greta Williams: A pint-sized free spirit who dreamed of being a mom

White's first victim was Greta Williams, a 27-year-old who grew up in Chicago and had only lived in Houston for a few months when she was beaten so "beyond recognition" that the family couldn't have an open casket, her sister told USA TODAY.

Dewanta Washington said she and Williams were only two years apart and looked so much alike, people thought they were twins.

The girls loved their two brothers, dancing to Michael Jackson songs, playing house with baby dolls and riding bikes.

"Greta, she was my best friend," Washington said. "We shared a room, and we talked about when we got bras, what we were gonna do, and, 'When I get married I'm gonna have this many kids. I'm gonna have a husband,' that kind of stuff."

As they got older, Washington said she was the boring one while her sister was a "free spirit" and "party girl," who was just an acquaintance of White's. The sisters were living together again in Houston when Williams decided to go out one night. Washington said she had a bad feeling.

"The night that she left I told her, 'Don't leave, we're going to find you dead,'" Washington said. "Her last words were, 'I'll be fine, I love you.'"

Washington said that she still has her sister's ashes and has been waiting for the day White is put to death in order to spread her ashes back in Chicago.

"My sister wont be truly free until he's executed, until he pays his debt," Williams said.

Bonita, Annette and Bernette Edwards: Killed in triple murder

Identical twin sisters Annette and Bernette Edwards knew they were living in a dangerous situation with their mother, who used crack cocaine and would allow questionable people into their apartment, according to court records.

The day before they were all killed, the girls had turned 16 and begged their grandmother to let them come live with her, Harris County prosecutor Josh Reiss told USA TODAY.

It's unclear why the girls were still in their mother's home the next day when White came over. He later told police in a confession that he and Bonita Edwards were using crack cocaine while the girls were in their room. He said he and Edwards got into a fight.

"She reached for a knife, and I took the knife and stabbed her," White said, according to court records. "Some kids come out. I went into the bedroom after them ... I stabbed one in the bedroom and one in the living room

The Edwards' bodies were found just a few weeks before Christmas. They were riddled with stab wounds in various states of undress, and strong evidence showed that Bernette had been sexually assaulted, court records show. Among the many disturbing details at the crime scene: A bloody sock was found under the Christmas tree.

On top of White's eventual confession, his DNA was a 99.9999 % match to semen found on Bernette, who had a pink shirt wrapped around the back of her neck and through her mouth as a gag, court records show.

USA TODAY was unable to find out more about the girls or their mother. The court records are 35 years old and limited, and the Edwards' family members haven't responded to requests for comment.

But prosecutor Reiss said about their case: "Two dead 16-year-old girls kind of speak for themselves in terms of the savageness of these crimes."

Hai Pham: A hard-working Vietnamese immigrant with a dream

Hai Pham moved his wife and his four youngest children to the U.S. in September 1994. Nine months later, White killed him in the middle of the day in the convenience store where he worked while his 14-year-old son napped nearby, according to one of Pham's other sons, Hiep Pham.

Hiep Pham told USA TODAY that his father had been teaching his children English even before they left Vietnam, and that his big dream was for his other grown children to eventually reunite with the family in the U.S., and for everyone to have successful careers.

"My dad believed we would have a better life in the states," said Hiep Pham, who was just 17 when his father was killed and is now a 47-year-old Houston salesman with a daughter of his own. "But that whole dream was just went down the drain."

As Hiep Pham grew up in Houston without his dad, struggling to learn English, dropping out of school to work two jobs and help put food on the table, he said he eventually realized how big of a deal Father's Day is here. It made him miss his own dad that much more.

"I feel angry still," said Pham, fighting tears. "We never celebrated Father's Day for my dad. And I always dreamed of that, having a beer with my dad."

If Hai Pham had lived, he would have been a grandfather of 12. His three oldest children remain in Vietnam while his four youngest have carved out their lives in the U.S. His wife no longer has a memory after a debilitating cancer fight.

Like Williams, Pham plans to witness White's execution.

"When I got the call (about the execution) I felt relief. I went back home and told my family during dinner that night: 'I don't know about y'all, but I'm going,'" he said. "It's hard to see somebody die, but I think its justice for my dad."