The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has stayed the execution of inmate William Keith Speer, just hours before he was scheduled for lethal injection.
The 49-year-old was convicted of killing fellow inmate Gary Dickerson back in July 1997 at the Telford State Prison, located near New Boston in northeast Texas.
As punishment, he had been set to receive a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville on Thursday (October 26), however, the execution was called off just five hours prior.
It has since been reported that Dickerson’s sister, Sammie Martin, wrote a letter to the state asking authorities to spare Speer's life.
"I have spent much time reflecting on what justice my brother and my family deserved," Martin wrote in a letter filed in federal court, the Associated Press reported. "In my heart, I feel that [Speer] is not only remorseful for his actions but has been doing good works for others and has something left to offer the world."
In addition to this, religious leaders from around the country also requested in a letter to the parole board and Governor Greg Abbott, that Speer be spared. They penned that his religious work with other convicts "does not excuse his actions, but it gives us a fuller picture of who Will is as a human, Christian, leader, and teacher".
CBS News reports that during his time in prison, Speer now helps to lead a religious program that ministers to other death row inmates, with his lawyers stating that he deeply regrets his previous crimes.
According to The Baptist Paper, Speer filed an application before the appeals court where he pleaded that his previous legal counsel had failed to examine and present his long history of childhood abuse and negligence to the jury. The filing also claimed prosecutorial misconduct, suppression of evidence, and the presentation of false testimony.
"I am so aware of the things that I’ve done. I’m so aware of the pain and the hurt that I’ve caused. I could just say that I’m sorry," Speer said in a video presented as part of an earlier clemency petition to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
Less than five hours before his scheduled execution at 6:00PM, the appeals court granted the request by Speer’s attorneys. "We have reviewed the application and find that [Speer’s] execution should be stayed pending further order of this Court," the appeals court wrote in its two-page order.
Speer’s legal team stated the stay order cannot be petitioned to federal courts because it is a state law issue. However, his attorney Amy Fly remarked: "We are relieved that Will Speer will live to see another day so he can continue to spread his message of hope and healing in Texas prisons," as cited by CBS News.
"Will’s life of ministry, and his efforts to offer some measure of peace to his victims’ families, are an inspiration. We are grateful for the thousands of people, including faith leaders and his victims’ survivors, who told the State of Texas that Will’s life was worth saving," she added.
Despite his uncertain future, the inmate's supporters voiced their happiness at the news, with Burke Butler Executive Director of Texas Defender Service expressing: "Will Speer will live to see another day and continue to spread his message of hope and healing in Texas prisons."
The Executive Director - who led a social media campaign for clemency in Speer’s case - commented in the press release that "thousands" of people had joined Dickerson’s sister and faith leaders across the country "to tell Texas that Will’s life was worth saving".
At the time of inmate Dickerson's killing, Speer had been serving a life sentence for fatally shooting a friend’s father, Jerry Collins, at a Houston area home in January 1991. He was 16.
The paroles board on Tuesday (October 24) voted 7-0 against commuting Speer’s death sentence to a lower penalty. Members also denied granting a six-month reprieve.
After Martin - who is Dickerson’s only living sibling - asked that Speer’s life be spared, lawyers with the Texas Attorney General’s Office said that despite her feelings about the execution, "the state retains its interest in deterring gang murders and prison violence, as well as seeing justice done for Dickerson," per court documents filed this week.
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