In this edition of our monthly newsletter, you’ll find information about federal executions, mid-year analysis of use of the death penalty nationwide, and the spread of COVID-19 in Texas prisons, including the unit that houses the men on death row.
Tarrant County
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stays execution of Edward Busby
On April 27, 2020, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) granted a 60-day stay of execution to Edward Busby. Busby was scheduled to be put to death on May 6, 2020 for the 2004 robbery and murder of 77-year-old Laura Lee Crane in Fort Worth. This is the fourth time since mid-March that the […]
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stays the execution of John Hummel
Today, March 16, 2020, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (“CCA”) granted a 60-day stay of execution “on its own motion” to John Hummel, who was scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. The order came about an hour after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected Hummel’s application […]
Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejects recommendation of relief for Paul Storey
Today, a majority of judges on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) rejected a trial judge’s recommendation that Paul Storey’s death sentence be commuted to life in prison after he found prosecutors had presented false evidence and withheld evidence from the defense. Storey was sentenced to death for the robbery and murder of Jonas […]
State of Texas executes Billy Crutsinger
The State of Texas executed Billy Crutsinger on September 4, 2019 after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal and motion for a stay. He was the 5th person put to death by the state this year and the 14th nationwide. The State of Texas has scheduled 10 more executions over the next three […]
Severely Schizophrenic Man Doesn’t Know Why He Is In Prison, Scheduled for TX Execution Next Week
Kwame Rockwell is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on Wednesday, October 24, despite his lifelong history of severe mental illness that predates the crime, fixed delusions that snakes and demons surround him and invade his body, and the fact that the state’s own doctors have sent him to the psychiatric unit […]
One execution stayed, another execution date withdrawn
Late in the day on Friday, October 5, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) stayed the execution of Juan Segundo based on a claim of intellectual disability. He was scheduled to be put to death on Wednesday, October 10 for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Vanessa Villa in 1986 in Fort Worth. According to […]
Update: State of Texas executes Erick Davila
On April 25, 2018, the State of Texas executed Erick Davila for the 2008 murders of Annette Stevenson and her granddaughter, Queshawn, in Fort Worth. Davila has steadfastly maintained that he did not intend to kill either of the victims. His target was a man thought to be in the same house. During his trial, Davila’s attorney […]
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