DA Responds after Court Halts Wednesday Execution

ATHENS (Staff/AP) — Henderson County District Attorney Scott McKee is not pleased that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals halted Wednesday’s scheduled execution of convicted killer Randall Wayne Mays (pictured). In a statement provided Tuesday to our news partner KETK, McKee says the order “is disappointing for the family and friends” of the victims “as well as the entire law enforcement community. In Texas and the United States, the law holds that it is unconstitutional to execute a person who does not know why they are to be executed and that the execution is imminent. We believe that Mays is fully competent and that the people of Henderson County, through the jury in this case, issued a clear message in its verdict.”

Mays, 55, was sentenced to death for a shootout eight years ago that left two sheriff’s officers dead. The incident happened at his home in Henderson County, about 55 miles southeast of Dallas. The court agreed with Mays’ lawyers that additional review is needed to determine if Mays is mentally competent for execution. His punishment would have depleted the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s supply of pentobarbital used for lethal injections and now difficult to obtain for capital punishment. At least four Texas executions are scheduled for April.