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death penalty executions Texas

Three Texas Executions Scheduled in May

The State of Texas is scheduled to carry out the following executions in May:

  • On May 7, Carroll Parr is scheduled to be put to death for the 2003 drug-related robbery and killing of Joel Dominguez in Waco.  According to a 2012 article in the Houston Chronicle, Parr sought to end his appeals. *Update* Parr was executed on May 7, 2013.
  • On May 15, Jefferey Williams is scheduled to be put to death for the murder of plainclothes Houston police officer Troy Blando in 1999 while being arrested for stealing a car.  His attorney is pursuing a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.  Read more about his case from the Austin Chronicle.
  • On May 21, Robert Pruett is scheduled to be put to death for the 2002 for the murder of correctional officer Daniel Nagle at the McConnell Unit in Beeville.  In an interview with the Texas Tribune, Pruett contends he was framed.   The article  focuses on staffing shortages at Texas prisons, an issue that Nagle addressed at a rally at the State Capitol in 1999 calling for raises for prison employees.  At the rally, he reportedly said “Someone will have to be killed before the Texas Department of Criminal Justice does anything about the shortage of staff in Texas prisons.”

Texas accounts for four of the ten executions carried out nationwide to date in 2013.  The State has executed 496 people since 1982.