Death Row Inmate Receives Stay
Posted/updated on: July 17, 2015 at 1:30 pm
HUNTSVILLE – A Tyler man convicted of murdering a 93-year-old woman has been granted a stay of his scheduled Thursday evening execution. According to KETK, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice made the announcement in the case of Clifton Lamar Williams, 31. TDCJ said the order was issued by the Court of Criminal Appeals in Austin. The request from Williams’s attorney is a stay for at least 60 days. Officials have been asked to examine incorrect FBI statistics regarding DNA probabilities. Williams’s defense argues it could have affected the outcome of his trial.
On July 9, 2005, the then 21-year-old Williams broke into the home of Cecilia Schneider and beat, strangled and stabbed her to death. He then laid her body on a bed and set it on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence. He then stole her purse and car and left the scene. Williams was found guilty by a Smith County jury on October 13, 2006 and later sentenced to death.
