Rodney Reed
American death row inmate (born 1967) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Rodney Rodell Reed (born December 22, 1967) is an American death row inmate who was convicted on May 18, 1998, by a Bastrop County District Court jury for the April 1996 abduction, rape, and murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old resident of Giddings, Texas.[1][2]
Rodney Reed | |
---|---|
Born | Rodney Rodell Reed (1967-12-22) December 22, 1967 (age 56) |
Nationality | American |
Known for | Controversial conviction and death sentence |
Criminal status | Incarcerated |
Conviction(s) | Capital murder (×2) |
Criminal penalty | Death |
Details | |
Victims | Stacey Stites |
Date apprehended | 1997 |
Imprisoned at | Allan B. Polunsky Unit |
Although Reed initially denied knowing Stites, after his DNA matched semen inside Stites's dead body, Reed said that he was having a clandestine affair with Stites and that they had consensual sex the day before her death.[3] During the penalty phase of the trial, the state argued for capital punishment on the basis of Reed being suspected in the rapes of four women and a 12-year-old and an attack on another woman.[4][5] Reed was sentenced to death on May 29, 1998, and is incarcerated at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit death row facility in Polk County, Texas.[6]
His conviction and death sentence remain controversial. Reed was scheduled to be executed on November 20, 2019, but doubt over Reed's guilt led to bipartisan support for a stay of his execution from Texas state legislators,[7] as well as numerous celebrities and other public figures.[8] On November 15, 2019, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended that Texas Governor Greg Abbott grant Reed a 120-day reprieve.[9] Later that day, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals indefinitely stayed Reed's execution to review his claims of actual innocence.[10] His execution was further delayed in 2023 when the Supreme Court authorised Reed to seek DNA testing on the murder weapon.[11]