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Rodney Reed
Born
Rodney Rodell Reed

(1967-12-22) December 22, 1967 (age 56)
Ventura County, California
NationalityAmerican
Criminal statusIncarcerated
Conviction(s)Capital murder
Criminal chargeCapital murder ×2
(during rape and kidnap)
PenaltyDeath
Details
Victims1
DateApril 23, 1996
Location(s)Bastrop, Texas
KilledStacey Stites
WeaponsBelt
Date apprehended
1997
Imprisoned atAllan B. Polunsky Unit

Rodney Rodell Reed (born December 22, 1967)[1] is an American convicted murderer who was sentenced to death for the abduction, rape, and strangulation of Stacey Stites in the town of Bastrop, Texas on April 23, 1996.[2][3] He has been on Texas's death row since May 1998.[1]

His conviction and death sentence remain controversial. Although Reed initially denied knowing Stites, after his DNA matched semen inside Stites's dead body, Reed claimed that he was having a clandestine affair with Stites and that they had consensual sex the day before her death.[4]

Reed was scheduled to be executed on November 20, 2019. Doubt over Reed's guilt has led to bipartisan support for a stay of his execution from Texas state legislators,[5] as well as numerous celebrities and other public figures.[6]

On November 15, 2019, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended that Texas Governor Greg Abbott grant Reed a 120-day reprieve.[7] Later that day, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals indefinitely stayed Reed's execution to review, among other claims, his allegations of actual innocence.[8]

Early life

Reed was born in Ventura County, California[9] to Walter and Sandra Reed. His father was a native of Bastrop, Texas and an Air Force veteran while his mother was a nurse.[10][2] Reed was raised with his six brothers in Texas.[11]

Reed attended Hirschi High School in Wichita Falls, Texas,[2] which he completed until the 11th grade.[9] He played on the school's football team and was a state Golden Gloves champion boxer.[2]

Murder of Stacey Stites

On the morning of 23 April 1996, Stacey Stites failed to arrive for her 3:30 AM shift in the produce section at the H-E-B grocery store in Bastrop.[12][13][14] Stites' absence was reported by a coworker to her mother; she called the police, who initiated a search and had discovered her fiancé's pickup truck (which Stites drove to work) at Bastrop High School at 5:30 AM.[14][15] At 3:11 PM, police received a call reporting the discovery of a woman's body in the bushes next to a dirt road behind the school.[12][16] She was officially pronounced dead at 5:58 PM.[12] The victim's identity was not initially announced by the police, but was confirmed by H-E-B to be their missing employee Stacey Stites.[12][13][14] According to officials, Stites had been raped and possibly beaten in her pickup truck and then strangled to death with her own belt some time between 3:00 and 5:00 AM.[13][4][14][16] Stites was also sodomized, which appeared to have been done during or after her strangulation.[17] When discovered, Stites was wearing a black bra and jeans, and her shirt was found wadded up nearby.[15] Her body had been partially burned.[15] Part of the belt that had been used to kill her was found near her body, and the other was found near the truck.[14]

Stites was buried in her hometown[13] of Corpus Christi on 26 April 1996.[18] Her brother never recovered from her death and committed suicide in 1997.[19] At the time of her murder, Stites—who then lived in Giddings to care for her disabled mother[13]—was 19 years old and engaged to a local police officer,[12] whom she lived with and was scheduled to marry less than three weeks later.[14] Her fiancé claimed that he had last seen her around 3:00 AM when she left for work after the couple showered together;[15] Bastrop High School was en route to her workplace at H-E-B.[13]

H-E-B offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the capture of her killer;[12] however, no one ever attempted to claim it.[20] On 12 July 1996, a woman called police to say that she believed that her son may have been with Stites in the hours before she was killed; however, the call could not be traced, and the woman did not call back.[21]

Arrest and trial

DNA extracted from three[22] sperm found in Stites' vagina[4] and saliva found on her chest[23][24] matched to Reed.[25] Local law enforcement already had Reed's DNA on file from a separate investigation.[3][4] The case against Rodney Reed rested heavily upon the DNA evidence, with no additional physical evidence or eyewitness testimony.[16] He was officially charged with the murder of Stacey Stites on April 4, 1997 and held without bond.[20] At the time, he was already in jail on an unrelated charge.[20] He was indicted and "charged with two counts of capital murder, one for murder in the course of aggravated sexual assault and one for murder in the course of kidnapping."[26] His arraignment was scheduled for 29 May 1997,[26] and jury selection began in March 1998.[27] The jury has been described as "mostly white", with no African-Americans among the 12 jurors or two alternates.[14]

Upon his initial questioning by police (before learning about the DNA evidence), Reed denied knowing Stites outside of what he had heard in news reports.[16] At trial, Reed's defense attorneys, Lydia Clay-Jackson and Calvin Garvey, argued that there had actually been a clandestine interracial relationship between Reed and Stites.[14][28] Reed said that he initially denied knowing Stites because it would be best for him not to admit to knowing "a dead white girl"[14] and later because "I knew she was seeing a cop, and we're in the South. There's still a lot of racism going on."[29]

According to prosecutor Lisa Tanner, DNA evidence was taken from 15 suspects (including Stites' fiancé and individuals who allegedly confessed to or bragged about the killing), which eliminated everyone except Reed as the source of the semen.[28] Police investigators could find no one who would attest to a relationship between Reed and Stites, including her mother and sister,[14] and the defense brought forward no witnesses who could testify to the affair.[30] Further, Stites' mother claimed that her daughter and her fiancé "looked happy and in love".[14] The prosecution put forward the DNA evidence and claimed that Reed may have ambushed Stites at a railroad crossing or a stoplight on her way to work before beating, raping, strangling, and sodomizing her.[16]

Reed was convicted on 18 May 1998 after a jury deliberation of six hours.[19] Whereas Stites' family and friends were relieved by the conviction,[19] Reed's family wept, because they were convinced that he was innocent.[19] He was sentenced to death on 28 May 1998 after a deliberation of four hours.[31][32] During sentencing, prosecutors pushed for the death penalty by arguing that Reed was likely to pose a danger in the future based on a history of similar previous charges.[2][22][33]

Appeals

Reed appealed nine times after his conviction,[33] on grounds of ignored witnesses and evidence that may have raised reasonable doubt but was not handed over to defense attorneys because prosecutors claimed that it was irrelevant.[34] None was successful in overturning his conviction or his death sentence. Reed's attorneys have subsequently argued that there are weaknesses in the prosecution's case, including that the murder weapon has never been tested for DNA and that forensic experts have admitted to making errors in their testimony.[3] His case has since been taken up by the Innocence Project.[6]

Reed was scheduled to be executed on January 14, 2015, but the execution was rescheduled to March 5, 2015 based on a request by the state.[35] On February 23, 2015, his execution was stayed to allow the consideration of further evidence.[36] His execution was later rescheduled for November 20, 2019.

Claims of innocence and celebrity endorsements

In the weeks preceding Reed's November 20, 2019 execution date, celebrities such as Kim Kardashian West, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Meek Mill, Pusha T, Susan Sarandon, Seth Green, and Oprah Winfrey publicly urged Texas Governor Greg Abbott to exonerate Reed or stay his execution.[6][37][38] Some, such as Amanda Seales, have rescinded their support for Reed's exoneration after learning more about his history.[39] The case received coverage in major news outlets,[40][41] and Reed was interviewed on an episode of Dr. Phil, in which host Phil McGraw opined that Reed should not be executed because he had not received a fair trial.[42] By 14 November 2019, a petition to free Reed started by Shaun King[43] had reportedly garnered more than three million signatures.[42]

A bipartisan group of 16 Texas state senators has petitioned Abbott to stay the death penalty on grounds that new, possibly exculpatory evidence had come to light.[5] On November 15, 2019, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously recommended that Texas Governor Greg Abbott grant Reed a 120-day reprieve.[7] Later that day, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals indefinitely stayed Reed's execution to review, among other claims, his allegations of actual innocence.[8]

Reed is the subject of the 2006 documentary film State vs. Reed[44] and a 2018 episode of the CNN series Death Row Stories.[45]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Texas Department of Criminal Justice Offender Search". offender.tdcj.texas.gov.
  2. ^ a b c d e Choate, Trish (6 November 2019). "How a Wichita Falls rape case helped put man convicted of murder on death row". Times Record News. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Simon, Darran; Killough, Ashley; Lavendera, Ed (8 November 2019). "The outcry to stop the execution of Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed is growing. The support has 'bolstered him,' his attorney says". CNN. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Burns, Catherine (November 6, 2019). "Prisoner backed by Rihanna 'scared' of execution". Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Texas state senators seek reprieve for death row inmate Rodney Reed". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  6. ^ a b c Dillon, Nancy. "Rihanna, Meek Mill and other stars rally around Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed". New York Daily News. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  7. ^ a b McCullough, Jolie. "Texas parole board recommends Greg Abbott delay Rodney Reed execution". The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Texas appeals court blocks Rodney Reed execution". www.aljazeera.com.
  9. ^ a b "Death Row Information". www.tdcj.texas.gov.
  10. ^ Beck, Jillian (September 24, 2016). "Rodney Reed supporters raise money for father's funeral". The Statesman. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  11. ^ Chhetri, Priyam (October 15, 2019). "Rodney Reed execution: Rodrick Reed opens up about the heartbreak of a family fighting for justice". MEAWW. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Osborn, Claire; Thatcher, Rebecca (April 24, 1996). "Giddings Woman, 19, Found Strangled Near Bastrop". Austin American-Statesman. pp. B1, B3. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Todd, Mike (April 25, 1996). "Bastrop County Bears Two Tragedies". Austin American-Statesman. pp. B1, B7. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harmon, Dave (May 5, 1998). "State Says DNA Shows Guilt In Bastrop Killing". Austin American-Statesman. pp. B1, B6. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b c d Bishop, Mike Ward and Bill. "Murder in Black and White, Part 2: Weighing the evidence". Austin American-Statesman.
  16. ^ a b c d e Harmon, Dave (May 7, 1998). "Bastrop Slaying Suspect's Trial Puts Focus On DNA Evidence". Austin American-Statesman. p. B3. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Harmon, Dave (May 13, 1998). "Defense in Bastrop Murder Trial Criticizes Investigation". Austin American-Statesman. pp. B1–B8. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Stites, Stacy Lee". Austin American-Statesman. April 26, 1996. p. B4. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ a b c d Harmon, Dave (May 19, 1998). "Jury Convicts Rodney Reed Of Murder In Bastrop Case". Austin American-Statesman. pp. A1, A7. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ a b c Todd, Mike (April 5, 1997). "Bastrop Slaying Suspect Charged". Austin American-Statesman. pp. B1–B2. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ Todd, Mike (October 18, 1996). "Bastrop Officials Seek Slaying Lead". Austin American-Statesman. pp. B2. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ a b Bishop, Mike Ward and Bill. "Murder in Black and White, Part 3: Looking for a way off death row". Austin American-Statesman.
  23. ^ "No, There's Not 'New Evidence' To Exonerate Rodney Reed". The Federalist. November 13, 2019.
  24. ^ Phillips, Morgan (November 13, 2019). "Michael McCaul: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott should postpone convicted killer Rodney Reed's execution". Fox News.
  25. ^ Bishop, Mike Ward and Bill. "Murder in Black and White, Part 1". Austin American-Statesman.
  26. ^ a b Todd, Mike (May 23, 1997). "Bastrop Man Indicted For Murder In 1996 Death". Austin American-Statesman. p. B2. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ Todd, Mike (March 24, 1998). "Reed Trial Jury Selection Begins". Austin American-Statesman. p. B2. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ a b Harmon, Dave (May 6, 1998). "Fiance Testifies In Bastrop Murder Trial". Austin American-Statesman. pp. B1, B5. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Allen, Ron; Cho, Michelle (November 6, 2019). "Death row inmate Rodney Reed remains hopeful, weeks before scheduled execution". NBC News. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
  30. ^ Harmon, Dave (May 15, 1998). "Defense Offers Other Theories In Rodney Reed Murder Trial". Austin American-Statesman. p. B6. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Kelley, Mike (May 29, 1998). "Reed Sentenced To Death For Bastrop Murder". Austin American-Statesman. p. B11. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Kelley, Mike (May 29, 1998). "Jurors Sentence Reed To Death". Austin American-Statesman. p. B11. Retrieved November 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ a b "Rodney Reed: His fight for a new trial and why prosecutors say he's guilty". KVUE.
  34. ^ "Rodney Reed's Appeals: Key Players". www.austinchronicle.com.
  35. ^ "Judge Rules Against DNA Testing in Reed Case". www.austinchronicle.com.
  36. ^ "Rodney Reed Wins Stay of Execution". The Texas Tribune. February 23, 2015.
  37. ^ "Oprah urges Texas governor to "take a pause" on Rodney Reed death row case". www.cbsnews.com.
  38. ^ "Urgent appeals to save 'innocent' death row inmate Rodney Reed with week until execution, as Republicans join campaign". The Independent. November 13, 2019.
  39. ^ Greig, Jonathan. "Blavity News & Politics". Blavity News & Politics.
  40. ^ Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas (November 6, 2019). "Rodney Reed Set for Execution in Texas, Despite New Evidence" – via NYTimes.com.
  41. ^ "Supporters rally on behalf of death row inmate Rodney Reed". Washington Post. Associated Press.
  42. ^ a b EST, Hunter Moyler On 11/14/19 at 1:19 PM (November 14, 2019). "'Free Rodney Reed' petition nears 3 million signatures as scheduled execution of death row inmate approaches". Newsweek.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  43. ^ "The Movement to Free Rodney Reed Illustrates the Growing Unease Over Texas' Use of the Death Penalty". The Texas Observer. November 11, 2019.
  44. ^ "State vs. Reed" – via www.imdb.com.
  45. ^ "Death Row Stories: Love Kills" – via www.imdb.com.
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