Five executions currently are scheduled to take place in Texas this month; the April 3 execution date of Kimberly McCarthy has now been moved to June 26, 2013 upon an order from State District Judge Larry Mitchell.
Here are the five inmates with execution dates in April:
- Rickey Lynn Lewis is scheduled to be executed on April 9, 2013. He was convicted of the 1990 murder of George Newman during a burglary at the victim’s house in Smith County.
- The State of Texas is scheduled to execute Rigoberto Avila, Jr. on April 10, 2013. His attorneys are pursuing a claim of actual innocence based on newly discovered, previously unavailable scientific evidence. Avila was sentenced to death for the 2000 murder of 19-month-old Nicolas Macias in El Paso, who he was babysitting along with four-year-old Dylan Salinas. He has consistently maintained his innocence.
- Ronnie Threadgill is scheduled to be executed on April 16, 2013; he was sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of 17-year-old Dexter McDonald outside a Navarro County nightclub.
- On April 24, 2013, Elroy Chester is scheduled to be executed for the 1998 shooting death of Port Arthur firefighter Willie Ryman III. He was convicted in Jefferson County. Chester pled guilty to Ryman’s murder and reportedly has admitted to four other slayings.
- Richard Cobb is scheduled to be executed on April 25, 2013 for killing Kenneth Vandever during the robbery of a convenience store in Rusk in 2002 (Cherokee County). His co-defendant, Beunka Adams, was executed on April 26, 2012.
Five executions have taken place nationwide to date in 2013, including one in Texas. The State of Texas has carried out 493 executions since 1982.