Garcia Glenn White Is Executed For Fatally Killing Twin Teenage Sisters In 1989

Texas: An execution took place on Tuesday night for a Texas man who was found guilty of stabbing twin 16 year old sisters to death over thirty years prior. At 6:56 p.m. CDT, Garcia Glenn White was declared deceased at the state penitentiary in Huntsville after receiving a chemical injection.

Garcia Glenn White’s Crime

After killing Annette and Bernette Edwards in December 1989, he was found guilty. Their residence in Houston was the site of the twin girls’ and their mother Bonita Edwards’ remains. The sixth prisoner to be executed in the United States in the previous eleven days was White, 61. Just after the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed three final-ditch pleas without remark, he was executed.

White proceeded to the girls’ Houston home, according to testimony, to smoke crack with their mother Bonita, who was also fatally murdered. White attacked the girls as soon as they emerged from their room to find out what had transpired. According to the evidence, White forced open the girls’ bedroom’s locked door. Authorities said he was later connected to the demise of another woman and the owner of a grocery store. States botched additional Black prisoner executions.

30 Years To Execute Death Sentence

Experts believe they understand why it took around 30 years to execute the accused’s death sentence in White’s case while several appeals were pending in the courts, as expressed by Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, who was present when White was killed. After lower courts had earlier denied requests for a stay of execution, White’s attorneys attempted in vain to appeal to the United States Supreme Court to halt the execution.

Request For 30 Day Reduction In Death Sentence Denied

White sought a 30-day respite or a reduction in his death sentence, but his requests were turned down by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Friday. His attorneys contended that the highest criminal appeals court in Texas has rejected medical testimony and substantial factual support demonstrating White’s intellectual disability. Those with intellectual disabilities were not allowed to be executed by the Supreme Court in 2002. However, it has allowed states some latitude in determining what constitutes a disability of this kind. The issue of how much discretion to grant has been debated by justices.

The Texas appeals court denied his defense team’s requests to present evidence that would have prevented White from receiving the death penalty. This evidence included scientific data suggesting White was most likely experiencing a cocaine-induced psychotic episode at the time of the crime and DNA evidence indicating another man was present at the scene. Some states have them as volunteers. In addition, White’s attorneys contended that he should have his death sentence reexamined because, in the wake of a recent Supreme Court decision in another Texas death row case, the Texas appeals court established a new sentencing framework for capital cases.