Source: Wilaipon Pasawat / EyeEm / Getty
Rodney Reed Rallies Public Support In Case, Asking Gov. Abbott To Stop His Execution Amid New Evidence
Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed in Texas on November 20th. He’s been on death row for 21 years for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas. Police claim Reed assaulted, raped and strangled Stites, but he has ALWAYS maintained his innocence. The case has drawn significant media attention, with Reed gaining support from a number of public figures including Kim Kardashian, Dr. Phil and Shaun King all rallying for his execution to be stopped and another suspect to be thoroughly investigated.
Much of the support for Reed comes on the heels of former inmate Arthur Snow Jr. filing an affidavit in court earlier this week saying Stites’ fiancé, Jimmy Fennell, confessed to the murder years ago. In 2010, while Snow was serving a sentence for forgery at a DeWitt County, TX prison when he made a deal with Fennell, who was seeking protection from other prisoners, according to the affidavit. At the time Snow was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood gang.
According to CNN reports, Snow’s affidavit states he was in the prison yard with Fennell when he began bragging about killing Stites:
“Jimmy said his fiancé had been sleeping around with a black man behind his back,” Snow wrote.
“Toward the end of the conversation Jimmy said confidently, ‘I had to kill my n*****- loving fiancé,'” he added. “My impression was the Jimmy felt safe, even proud, sharing this information with me because I was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. I think Jimmy assumed that his confession would impress me and earn him credibility with the Aryan Brotherhood.”
SMH. Snow claims he didn’t know about Reed’s case until a few years ago when he saw a photo of Fennell along with an article about Reed while he was jailed in Texas’ Hays County for a different offense. He says in his affidavit that that is when he realized Reed had been imprisoned for the murder Fennell confessed to him.
In the meantime, Fennell’s attorney, Robert Phillips, said Snow is a career criminal and his claim is not credible nor in the “world of reality.”
It’s worth noting that Jimmy Fennell served time in prison for rape years after Stites murder, but his attorney notes he’s since been released and has converted to Christianity and been helping people with drug addictions, Phillips said.
Fennell, who is a former police officer, was identified as a suspect during the police investigation into Stites’ killing, but he was never formerly charged.
Reed’s attorneys filed an application for clemency last week as they attempt to block his execution.
According to CNN reports, Bryce Benjet, a senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project and Reed’s lead counsel, said evidence clearly shows that Reed did not kill Stites.
“Mr. Reed’s execution is less than one month away, meaning Texas is frighteningly close to executing an innocent man,” Benjet said in a statement. Between the medical and scientific evidence, and multiple new, credible witnesses, the original case trial has been completely deconstructed and disproven.”
In the meantime, Reed’s supporters are asking for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene and stop his execution.
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