A Texas man, connected to five murders and found guilty of the brutal stabbing of twin 16-year-old girls over thirty years ago, is set to be executed on Tuesday evening.
Garcia White faced condemnation for the tragic murders of Annette and Bernette Edwards in December 1989. Authorities discovered the remains of the twin girls alongside their mother, Bonita Edwards, in a Houston apartment.
A 61-year-old man, previously a college football player and later employed as a fry cook, was set to undergo a lethal injection on Tuesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. White is set to become the sixth inmate executed in the U.S. within a span of just 11 days.
Evidence revealed that White visited the girls’ residence in Houston to engage in drug use with their mother, Bonita, who was also tragically killed in a stabbing incident. As the girls emerged from their room to investigate the commotion, White launched an assault on them. It was revealed that White forcefully breached the locked door of the girls’ bedroom. He was subsequently linked to the fatalities of a grocery store proprietor and another female victim.
Garcia White was responsible for five murders across three separate incidents, with two of the victims being teenage girls. “This case exemplifies the very purpose of the death penalty,” stated Josh Reiss, head of the Post-Conviction Writs Division at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in Houston.
Attorneys for White have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to halt his execution, following the dismissal of his stay petitions by lower courts. On Friday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected White’s appeal to reduce his death sentence or to provide him with a 30-day delay.
His legal team contended that the highest criminal appeals court in Texas has declined to acknowledge “medical evidence and substantial factual support” indicating that White has an intellectual disability.
In 2002, the highest court prohibited the execution of individuals with intellectual disabilities. However, it has allowed states a degree of flexibility in deciding how to assess these disabilities. The justices are grappling with the extent of discretion to permit.
White’s legal team has raised serious concerns about the Texas appeals court’s decision to prevent them from introducing crucial evidence that might save him from a death sentence. This includes DNA evidence indicating the presence of another individual at the crime scene, as well as scientific findings suggesting that White may have been experiencing a cocaine-induced psychotic episode at the time of the incident.
White’s legal team contended that he deserves a fresh examination of his death sentence, claiming that the Texas appeals court has established a new framework for sentencing in capital punishment cases following a recent Supreme Court decision in a different Texas death row matter.
