The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) has stayed the execution of Kosoul Chanthakoummane and ordered the trial court to review claims of discredited forensic science. This marks the third case granted a stay by the CCA this year. Chanthakoummane was scheduled to be executed on July 19, 2017. Earlier this year, State District Judge Ben Smith reset Chanthakoummane’s January execution date to allow time for the courts to review pending appeals.
Kosoul Chanthakoummane was sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of real estate agent Sarah Ann Walker in a model home in McKinney (Collin County). Read a response to Ms. Walker’s murder from her father, Joe Walker, who was profiled in 2012 by our partners at Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation.
Read coverage from the Texas Tribune.
The State of Texas has put four people to death in 2017. There have been 12 executions nationwide. There are five individuals scheduled for execution in Texas through October.