Rodney Reed has been on death row for more than 22 years for the murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas, but he’s always maintained his innocence.
Over the past few years, there has been growing evidence to support his claim. Just last year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued an indefinite stay of his execution and ordered a new hearing in response to the mounting evidence of Rodney’s innocence.
But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, his trial has been delayed until 2021 while he remains on death row.
Texas prisons and jails have become hotbeds for COVID-19 and now have the worst infection rates in the country. Visits are no longer allowed and phone time has been significantly cut, so Rodney hasn’t spoken to his family in quite a long time.
Mail is just about the only way that Rodney has been able to communicate with his family. His most treasured letters are the ones that contain photos of his grandchildren, and he’s eagerly awaiting the next mail delivery as his son Christopher recently welcomed a new baby.
We know that the holidays can be a lonely time for folks who are incarcerated, and in the midst of a pandemic, people like Rodney won’t get to spend even a few moments with their loved ones.
The Innocence Project exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice. www.innocenceproject.org
