The last execution under Rick Perry has been stayed because Perry will be out of the state next week. 279 people were put to death during Perry’s tenure as governor, including Todd Willingham, who was innocent.
Richard Vasquez had been scheduled for lethal injection Jan. 15. Nueces County District Attorney Mark Skurka said Monday the state attorney general’s office requested the delay because the governor would be out of the state that day.
The first execution under incoming Governor-elect Greg Abbott is set for the day after his inauguration. Abbott takes office Jan 20, his first execution is Jan 21.
The execution of a Corpus Christi man set for next week for the beating death of his 4-year-old stepdaughter nearly 17 years ago has been rescheduled for April.
Richard Vasquez, 35, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Jan. 15 for the March 1998 death of Miranda Nicole Lopez, but a state district judge in Nueces County reset the punishment for April 23 at the request of the Attorney General’s Office because the governor would be out of the state that day, Vasquez’s lawyer, Andrew Edison, said.
Vasquez contended the child fell from a stool in a bathroom while brushing her teeth and injured her head, but evidence showed she had suffered far more serious injuries.
Vasquez is among 13 Texas death row inmates set to die in the next several months, including three who are scheduled for execution later this month.
