*A mentally ill Texas death row inmate who gouged out his own eyes is seeking clemency.
Andre Thomas, 39, is scheduled for execution on April 5 and he has a massive team of supports who have “asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Greg Abbott to commute his sentence to life in prison or grant a reprieve in order for the courts to determine his competency for execution,” Fox News writes.
“Gov. Abbott has the power to stop the spectacle of prison guards leading a blind, mentally incompetent delusional man to the death chamber,” Thomas’ attorney Maurie Levin said, according to The Associated Press.
Thomas is accused of the vicious killing of his 20-year-old estranged wife, Laura Christine Boren, and two children in Sherman, Texas. The crime occurred in 2004, when he fatally stabbed Boren, their four-year-old son, and her 13-month-old daughter, according to reports. Thomas also cut out the hearts of the two children. He later told investigators that all three were demons and that God instructed him to kill them.
READ MORE: Alabama Death Row Inmate Suffered Through Painful 3-Hour Execution
Plagued by mental illness, Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas started hearing voices when he was 9 years old and first attempted suicide when he was 10, his attorneys say. https://t.co/nYna9iB4NL
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 19, 2023
Thomas was sentenced to death for killing the little girl. He is currently housed at a unit in south Houston for inmates with severe mental illness. His attorney said he gouged out his eyes and ate one so the government can not hear his thoughts.
Prosecutors reportedly believe Thomas is faking the mental illness. He was sentenced to death after jurors rejected his insanity defense.
Thomas is Black and his estranged wife was White so attorneys have noted that many of the jurors opposed interracial marriage.
“A jury has spoken about what justice should be in this case. We are not going to ignore that,” J. Kerye Ashmore, of the Grayson County District Attorney’s Office, said, according to The AP.
The next move for his attorneys is to file a court motion asking that the prisoner’s competency be reviewed, according to Fox. A judge will ultimately decide on the matter.
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