The latest death penalty news from The Texas Tribune.
A Texas death row inmate was executed Wednesday — his fourth execution date in a year. Though advocates and his attorneys insisted on Juan Castillo's innocence, he lost all his fights in court and was put to death for a 2003 San Antonio murder. Full Story
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Nearly three years after his release from prison, Alfred Dewayne Brown is still trying to get state compensation for his years spent on Texas' death row. On Wednesday, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced an independent review of Brown's innocence claim. Full Story
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Erick Davila was executed Wednesday evening for a 2008 shooting at a child's birthday party that left his rival gang member's mother and 5-year-old daughter dead. His case was heard and ultimately rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. Full Story
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Defense lawyers, legal groups and former federal judges also point to cases of people taken off death row as they oppose the state's push for faster federal death penalty appeals. Full Story
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Rosendo Rodriguez was executed Tuesday for killing a Lubbock prostitute and tossing her body in a dumpster in a suitcase. His final appeals questioned the medical examiner's testimony that she was sexually assaulted before her death. Full Story
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Carlos Ayestas, 48, said he wants to explore evidence of his mental illness, brain injuries or drug use that wasn't brought up during his trial for the murder of a 67-year-old woman. Full Story
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Judge Elsa Alcala of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is a zealous opinion writer and critic of death penalty law. But after seven years on the bench, she's stepping down. Here are the three Republicans who are vying for her seat. Full Story
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Texas death row inmates lost at the U.S. Supreme Court when the high court denied their petition to challenge the state's execution protocol. Full Story
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Gov. Greg Abbott spared the life of a death row inmate less than an hour before his scheduled execution. Full Story
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The Texas Department of Criminal Justice released information Thursday night on the state's execution drug inventory. The department had stalled release of the records, which show that the expiration date of four doses was changed from January to November. See more details here. Full Story
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Earlier this month, defense lawyers claimed Texas was botching its executions with old drugs. Now, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has stalled the release of information on how many lethal doses the state has and when they expire. Full Story
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The Dallas man who killed his two daughters in 2001 was executed Thursday night. It was the third execution in Texas and the nation this year. Full Story
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William Rayford, a 64-year-old death row inmate convicted in the 1999 murder of his ex-girlfriend, was put to death Tuesday night in the second execution of the year in Texas and the nation. Full Story
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The first execution of 2018 in Texas and the nation took place Thursday evening for Houston’s “Tourniquet Killer.” It was the first execution under Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, a Democrat who oversaw the first year in more than 30 without an execution in the county. Full Story
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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew White on Thursday called for the abolishment of the death penalty. Full Story
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Weather-related prison evacuations, legal battles over execution drugs and death sentences, and reform efforts at the Texas Legislature led the state's criminal justice headlines in 2017. Full Story
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Texas executed more people than any other state this year, but fewer new death sentences has led to a shrinking death row population. Full Story
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The prosecutor in the death penalty case of a man who didn't kill anyone has asked the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to change his sentence to life in prison. Full Story
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The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stopped the state's last remaining execution of 2017, sending the San Antonio case back to court to resolve claims of false testimony at trial. Full Story
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Texas executed a Mexican national late Wednesday night despite a flurry of last-minute appeals and objections from his native country and United Nations human rights experts. Full Story
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