Rodney Reed's Execution Stayed By Texas Appeals Court

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Friday afternoon stopped the scheduled execution of death row inmate and convicted murderer Rodney Reed.

The nonprofit Innocence Project, which has been representing Reed in his effort to stay alive, tweeted the court granted a stay of execution that was "indefinite." The ruling was posted to the court's website.

"We are extremely relieved and thankful that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (CCA) has issued a stay of execution for our client Rodney Reed," said his attorney, Bryce Benjet, of the Innocence Project. "This opportunity will allow for proper consideration of the powerful and mounting new evidence of Mr. Reed’s innocence." 

Texas civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt tweeted that he spoke with Reed's family after the court ruling and they are "overjoyed but know this fight isn't over."

The court's move came after the state parole board voted unanimously Friday to recommend Gov. Greg Abbott delay the execution by 120 days He was scheduled to be put to death next Wednesday.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, however, also asked that Abbott not commute Reed's sentence to a lesser penalty. It's unclear what the governor may decide, and his office did not immediately return a request for comment.

During Reed's trial in 1998, prosecutors said he randomly encountered Stites on the road as she drove to work at a grocery store in Bastrop, east of Austin. After she stopped for him, they said, Reed raped and strangled Stites with her own belt, leaving her body in a wooded area. Stites was weeks away from getting married to Fennell, a police officer.

Semen was found inside Stites, and police matched the DNA to that of Reed, who was arrested a year later. Reed's sperm had previously been collected as part of an unrelated sexual assault investigation.

Reed initially denied to investigators that he knew Stites, but later said they had been having a consensual sexual relationship, one that they tried to keep concealed because he is black and Stites was white.

An attorney for Fennell has denied his client's involvement in Stites' death.

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While a certain group of people focus on his past, we're talking about right now. A man who was about to be murdered for a crime he didn't commit, and it was clear that he didn't commit the crime that is being spoken. I'll continue to keep everyone up to date as more comes out. I definitely wish Rodney Reed the very best.