Death penalty

In Texas and many other states, lethal injection is used for executions. The new book Secrets of the Killing State by Corinna Barrett Lain pulls back the curtain of secrecy surrounding lethal injection. The author claims there is gross incompetence by woefully inept executioners and a state indifference to the fate of the condemned.

Victims and families of the people who died in the 2019 attack offered impact testimonies as trial ends. "I have no more room for hate in my heart," said Yvonne Gonzalez, who lost her parents.

The new year could be a year of increased use of the death penalty across the United States which contrasts with how 2024 was a year that saw big gains in the effort to reduce executions. On January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at reinstating and expanding the use of the federal death penalty.

Roberson was scheduled to be executed on Thursday but an unprecedented legal move, a subpoena from the Texas House, saved him from lethal injection. Legislators are investigating why the state’s junk science law has not been applied in Roberson’s case and others on death row.

Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson lost one of his final appeals on Friday. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to stop his Oct. 17 execution.

Texas has executed 588 people since 1982—all by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit. This is more than any other state in the country. Texas Public Radio's David Martin Davies was a witness for the most recent Texas execution. He has this reflection.

The day would have been Bridget Townsend’s 41st birthday. Instead of having a party, her family was in Huntsville watching her killer be put to death.

Melissa Lucio's family, attorneys, the Cameron County District Attorney and now a county judge say she should be exonerated from a 2008 murder charge.

The state of Texas on Thursday executed Brent Ray Brewer for the 1990 robbery and murder of Robert Doyle Laminack in Amarillo. As Brewer faced his execution, his final words expressed remorse for the murder: "I hope you find peace."

Activists for the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement will be in various Texas cities on Tuesday to protest the scheduled execution of Jedidiah Murphy.