#FreeRodneyReed: 100,000 Sign Petition To Halt Execution Of Texas Death Row Inmate
Rodney Reed’s 21 years on death row is nearing a controversial end as he’s scheduled to be put to death on November 20.
Many, including Kim Kardashian, are working tirelessly to help free the 51-year-old who they believe, at the very least, should receive a new trial.
Reed was convicted of the 1996 rape and murder of Stacey Stites – a woman he was having a sexual relationship with in Bishop, Texas.
According to the Innocence Project, the state is on the "verge of executing an innocent man," citing numerous contradicting confessions and evidence which implicates Stites' fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, a local police officer who was originally the prime suspect in her murder.
Reed’s legal team filed for an application for clemency on October 30, but in the meantime, thousands are relaying their support via a change.org petition.
More than 100,000 signatures have been gathered urging the execution to be stopped and all new evidence in the case be presented to a jury.
On Saturday (November 2), nearly 100 supporters gathered outside the Capitol building in Austin to urge Governor Greg Abbott to grant clemency for the man they believe is innocent.
"There's so much evidence out there, there's so much doubt out there, and it just blows my mind that they can sit back, and let us sit in this state of uncertainty," Reed’s brother, Rodrick Reed, told CBS Austin at the demonstration. "That's torture."
Kim Kardashian recently joined the fight to set Rodney Reed free. On Twitter, the reality star and entrepreneur tweeted at Gov. Abbott, also citing the mounting evidence that contradicts Reed’s guilty verdict.
"Please @GovAbbott How can you execute a man when since his trial, substantial evidence that would exonerate Rodney Reed has come forward and even implicates the other person of interest,” she tweeted. “I URGE YOU TO DO THE RIGHT THING."
The Innocence Project states Reed and Stites were romantically involved, even though Stites was engaged to be married to local police officer Jimmy Fennell. Witnesses now say Fennell confessed to having “to kill my [n-word]-loving fiancée.”
Writer and activist Shaun King has gathered some of the higher-profile endorsements of freeing Rodney Reed as well as information to educate the general public about the case. See some of what he’s presented below.
