Tonight, June 30, 2021, the State of Texas executed John Hummel. Ten years ago, he was convicted of killing his wife, Joy Hummel, and his father-in-law, Clyde Bedford. Hummel, who is an honorably discharged Marine, had no history of violence prior to the terrible night of December 17, 2009. His behavior while incarcerated undermined the jury’s determination of his “future dangerousness,” which is required to impose a death sentence in Texas.
Previously, Hummel faced execution on March 18, 2020 but received a stay from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals due to the pandemic.
Hummel was the second person put to death by the State of Texas this year. The federal government is the only other jurisdiction to carry out executions to date in 2021.
Like Quintin Jones, who was executed on May 19, 2021, Hummel was convicted in Tarrant County, where prosecutors continue to pursue death sentences and executions at a time when most other jurisdictions are moving in the opposite direction.
The ACLU of Texas had asked the State to delay Hummel’s execution to allow time for an independent investigation into the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s exclusion of media witnesses from the execution of Jones last month. Read more from the Texas Tribune.
Texas has scheduled four more executions for the Fall.