Death in Texas

Stories

18 Stories

September 2008
- Con Wins Death Stay in Judge Affair Appeal
  
  ABC News | Sep 10, 08 11:48 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Texas death-row inmate who filed an appeal alleging that an affair between the judge and prosecutor compromised his trial has been granted a stay of execution. But, ABC News reports, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals approved Charles Dean Hood's request based not on the affair but because of a problem with jury instructions during his trial for murder and robbery. More »
- Death Row Con Wins Hearing Over Courtroom Hanky Panky
  
  ABC News | Sep 5, 08 7:33 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A condemned Texas inmate has won a hearing to decide whether his lawyers can question the judge and prosecutor at his capital case trial about an alleged affair the two were having while the proceedings were unfolding, ABC News reports. A former county DA filed a sworn statement last year saying the affair was "common knowledge" at the time. More »
July 2008
- No Charges for Texas Man Who Shot Neighbor's Burglars
  
  Houston Chronicle | Jul 1, 08 2:59 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Texas grand jury’s decision to take no action against Joe Horn, who killed two burglars on his front lawn, has focused attention on the state’s “deadly force” laws, the Houston Chronicle reports. Horn’s life was not in danger until he confronted the thieves fleeing his neighbor’s house, but his actions were legally protected by a statute dating from the 1850s. More »
May 2008
- Texas Boy, 7, Killed by Pit Bulls
  
  Abilene Reporter-News | May 19, 08 2:10 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A 7-year-old Texas boy was apparently mauled to death yesterday by two pit bulls, writes the Abilene Reporter. Police responding to a 911 call discovered Tanner Joshua Monk’s body on the side of a road, with two dogs nearby. The deputies were forced to kill the dogs, which belonged to a neighbor of Monk’s family, when the animals attacked them. More »
- Bees may have stung man to death
  
  KVUE | May 19, 08
  
  An elderly Austin man was found dead at his home with more than 50 bee stings to his body.The 81-year-old man lived on the 1700 block of Barbara Street. Police say he was mowing his lawn around 10:45 Saturday morning when he was stung more than 50 times by bees.
- Court Tosses $32M Verdict Against Vioxx
  
  Wall Street Journal | May 14, 08 1:29 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A Texas appellate court threw out a $32 million verdict against Merck today, citing a lack of evidence that Vioxx contributed to a man’s fatal heart attack. Lionel Garza was taking the painkiller when he died in 2001 at age 71, but was also a smoker with high blood pressure and high cholesterol, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Garza case was decided by verdict in 2006, and was excluded from a recent $4.85 billion settlement for 27,000 Vioxx cases. More »
March 2008
- Bush Can't Force US Courts to Obey World Body: Justices
  
  Washington Post | Mar 25, 08 4:45 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The Supreme Court ruled today for states, and against President Bush in a quarrel over international law, finding that a foreign death-row inmate did not have a right to further review—though the world's top court said he did. Ernesto Medellin was not provided counsel from his native Mexico, violating the Vienna Convention; Texas balked at Bush’s attempt to enforce the body's ruling. More »
February 2008
- Cough Syrup OD Killed Rapper
  
  Houston Chronicle | Feb 5, 08 6:32 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - Texas rapper Pimp C, found dead in a Los Angeles hotel room in December, died from an overdose of prescription cough syrup coupled with a sleep disorder that interrupts breathing, the LA coroner ruled yesterday. The 33-year-old Grammy nominee's death has been ruled an accident, reports the Houston Chronicle. Pimp C, whose real name was Chad Butler, died while he was in town for a concert. More »
January 2008
- Dog Shoots Goose Hunter
  
  Houston Chronicle | Jan 9, 08 4:48 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - A Texas man died after his dog stepped on a loaded shotgun, the Houston Chronicle reports. The teacher, 46, shot down a goose, put the gun in back of the truck, and was about to let the dog out to retrieve it when the gun went off, blowing through the tailgate and hitting him in the thigh. "It's the strangest case that I've seen," commented the country sheriff. More »
December 2007
- Parents Face Capital Murder Charges in Baby Grace Case
  
  Houston Chronicle | Dec 13, 07 3:40 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - A grand jury took just three minutes to decide to bring capital murder charges against a Texas couple in the death of their 2-year-old daughter, the Houston Chronicle reports. The child's mother has admitted that the child, dubbed Baby Grace, died after she and her husband beat the little girl. Baby Grace's body was found stuffed in a plastic cooler in Galveston Bay months later. More »
November 2007
- Texas Police Tentatively ID Baby Grace
  
  Daily News (Galveston Co., Texas) | Nov 26, 07 4:55 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - The remains of a young girl whose body washed ashore in a storage bin were tentatively identified by Texas officials yesterday, and the child's mother and stepfather have been arrested on charges related to her death. The child called Baby Grace is now thought to be 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyer, based in part on a description from the baby's grandmother in Ohio. More »
October 2007
- Texas Executions at Standstill
  
  Associated Press | Oct 3, 07 1:44 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As the US Supreme Court reviews the constitutionality of lethal-injection methods, a Texas appeals court yesterday stayed an execution order scheduled to be carried out tonight—bringing the country's busiest death row to a standstill. The Supreme Court is looking at a case brought by death-row inmates in Kentucky who say the injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. More »
September 2007
- Texas Won't Halt Executions, Despite Stay
  
  New York Times | Sep 29, 07 9:37 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Texas officials plan to go forward with death-row executions, even as other states put them on hold in the wake of the Supreme Court's last-minute stay for Carlton Turner earlier this week. More stays like Turner's are expected in Texas as the court deliberates on the legality of lethal injections, reports the New York Times. More »
August 2007
- Texas Gov. Spares Prisoner Hours Before Execution
  
  Houston Chronicle | Aug 30, 07 5:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry commuted a death-row prisoner's sentence to life imprisonment today, six hours before he was to die for his role in a 1996 murder. Kenneth Foster drove the getaway car in a robbery gone awry, and under Texas law was eligible for the death penalty. Perry, in granting the reprieve, followed the advice of a state board. More »
- Texas Executes 400th Inmate
  
  Associated Press | Aug 23, 07 8:25 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Texas has executed its 400th inmate since reinstating the death penalty 25 years ago, putting a convicted murderer to death by lethal injection last night. Johnny Ray Conner is the 21st prisoner to be sent to death this year, with three more slated to follow next week. Capital punishment opponents voiced their opposition—even EU officials urged Gov. Rick Perry to impose a moratorium. More »
June 2007
- Storms Swamp Central Texas
  
  Associated Press | Jun 28, 07 9:36 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Rain continues to pelt central Texas, where 11 people have died in the flooding over the past 10 days and yesterday saw another 18 inches of precipitation on the town of Marble Falls. Some 150 National Guard troops are in the area, where rooftop rescues had to be suspended briefly because the weather grounded helicopters. More »
- Mob Kills Passenger After Car Strikes Child
  
  Associated Press | Jun 21, 07 4:20 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Police are hunting members of an angry mob that killed a man after the car he was riding in struck a child. Some 20 attackers beat David Morales to death just paces from his townhouse, as he attempted to defend the driver. Their car hit the child in a parking lot packed with revelers during a Juneteenth celebration in Austin, Texas. More »
May 2007
- Mom, 3 Girls Found Dead in Mobile Home
  
  Houston Chronicle | May 29, 07 1:55 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The bodies of a woman and her four young daughters were found hanging in a closet in the Oak Hills mobile home park in Texas this morning, all dead except the youngest girl, an 8-month-old. More »