In the years since I saw that newspaper article, though I was not a young man then, I finally started to grow up. (Rodney Reed: Innocent on Death Row / Facebook) We, the Reed family, believe in God and know that His Hands are in this and that God has been working through people so we can bring Rodney home alive. The Innocence Project would pay for this testing and share the results with the state, leaving no reason for the state to continue to oppose testing efforts," the Innocence Project said Monday. Here’s what you need to know. Jimmy’s best friend at the time of the crime, Bastrop Sheriff’s Officer Curtis Davis, has now revealed … Reed faces the death penalty in Stites’ 1996 murder in a Bastrop, a suburb of Austin, Texas. A Texas court stopped it last week. She said the last words out of her daughter's mouth were, "Mom, I love you." We are standing strong and taking our fight all across the United States, shouting with every bit of breath in our body “FREE RODNEY REED, RODNEY REED IS INNOCENT, TEST THE DNA, and GRANT RODNEY REED A NEW TRIAL!” until my brother is free and alive in our arms! Tonight, Carol Stites opens up about the memories of being with her daughter Stacey and the heartbreak of losing her. This comes after a gruelling twenty-one years on death row for a murder which from all pointers he seemed to be innocent of. Like Blakley, Bayardo presumed Stites was sexually assaulted, took vaginal swabs, and found sperm with both heads and tails intact. However, Reed has maintained he had a consensual relationship with Stites, and that they had sex before she was murdered. Reed is found guilty of capital murder, and given the death penalty. Rodney Reed’s Case or Lack Thereof. I knew that I couldn’t ignore this memory anymore. He also concluded that the belt was the murder weapon and that Stites died of asphyxiation by strangulation. Weeks after his scheduled execution, death row inmate Rodney Reed is optimistic he could be freed. 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The Innocence Project said they are preparing for Reed's upcoming hearings, where they hope he will be granted a new trial. This week, multiple events are scheduled to draw attention to Reed… AUSTIN, TX (KXAN) – A new filing in Rodney Reed’s fight to stay alive shows the judge in Reed’s case is no longer serving as a judge in Texas. The prosecution, citing that DNA persuaded an all-white jury of his guilt; he was convicted and sentenced to die by lethal injection. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of kidnapping and improper sexual activity, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to TIME magazine. "Misgivings this ponderous should not be brushed aside even in the least consequential of criminal cases; certainly they deserve sober consideration when a capital conviction and sentence hang in the balance.". Rodney Reed Has Been Indicted for Several Other Rapes. February 25 2015, 12:48 p.m. Nine days before Rodney Reed was scheduled to die in Texas for a crime he swears he didn’t commit, the state’s … Stites was murdered just 18 days before her wedding. He was released in March 2018. READ NEXT: Rodney Reed Now: Where Is The Death Row Inmate Today in 2020? Stites’ family has denied she was having an affair with Reed. At trial, he changes his story: He claims he was in a secret affair with Stacey, and that they had sex the night before her murder, explaining the DNA. | Watch our new #ABC2020 with @DebRobertsaBC at 9/8c on @ABC. He noted that her anus was dilated with superficial lacerations. Rodney Reed maintains innocence weeks before execution Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed, scheduled to die Nov. 20, maintains his innocence in the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites. In a tearful interview with 20/20, they said they should not have to defend her when she is not alive to defend herself. In 1998, Rodney Reed, who is African-American, was sentenced to death by an all-white jury in Bastrop, Texas, for the rape and murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old white woman. Powered by, 1998 article in the Austin American-Statesman. #RT @shaunking: RT @FreeRodneyReed: While #RogerStone managed to evade incarceration altogether, Rodney Reed’s justice is delayed another year, like a dangling carrot, while Jimmy Fennell’s confession collects dust. February 24, 2020 / 11:04 PM “For 15 years there’s been forensic evidence in this case that not only contradicts but disproves the evidence that was used to convict Mr. Reed, and this hearing is an opportunity for that to be aired,” Benjet told reporters after the hearing,” the statement said, according to KXAN. But he’s still on death row. Rodney Reed was convicted in the murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites largely due to his DNA found in her body. Rodney Reed Now: Where Is The Death Row Inmate Today in 2020. Expert forensic pathologist Michael Baden contended Bayardo confused normal body degradation with signs of sexual assault, according to KXAN. Reed was sentenced to death row for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites. Prosecutors say the evidence indicates she was raped. It is only my conjecture, but I believe Stacey might have told Rodney that if he raped her that she would inform her police boyfriend and that would have sealed the poor girl’s fate. Eventually, he saw a newspaper article including a picture of Reed and Fennell and “everything came together.” But he did not come forward immediately, the affidavit says. Dr. Bayardo thought the presence of sperm in the anus was indicative of penile penetration, but noted that it may have been attributed to seepage from the vagina. The Evidence in the Case, Copyright © 2021 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. / CBS News. But this case isn't recent. Reed, now 51, was found guilty of the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites and has spent over 20 years in prison. She was strangled to death on her way to her 3:30 a.m. shift at H.E.B., a local grocery store chain. "Following the Supreme Court's decision, the Innocence Project has renewed its call for the Texas Attorney General's Office and Bastrop County District Attorney Bryan Goertz to agree to DNA testing of the murder weapon and other evidence. Reed has been on death row for over 21 years for Stites’s 1996 murder which he maintains he did not commit. We need everyone's help to save Rodney’s life and to bring him home alive! We thank everybody who has been taking action along with their prayers. But while the petition for a review of his case was denied, Justice Sonia Sotomayor left the door open for further appeals pending the outcome of upcoming hearings. Dr. Robert Bayardo, the Travis County Medical Examiner, conducted Stites’s autopsy the day after her body was found. Copyright © 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Rodney Reed been on death row since his conviction for the 1996 rape and murder of … Rodney Reed, a death row inmate in Livingston, Texas, is currently scheduled to be executed on Nov. 20. Stites’ fiance was a local police officer who was accused of raping a woman he detained while he was on duty in Texas in 2007. Rodney Reed is a Texas man on death row for the 1996 rape and murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Baden also signed a statement saying he no longer believes the autopsy showed evidence of sexual assault. I let go of some of my prejudices. Then in May of 1998, Reed was tried on two counts of capital murder. But in recent weeks, his case has received widespread attention and a wave of support from celebrities, activists and lawmakers who are calling on the state to stop the execution. The case is being examined on a new episode of 20/20, which airs at 9 p.m. Eastern time Friday, November 11, 2020. Rodney Reed's execution was set for Wednesday. Rodney Reed Was Arrested for Stacey Stites’ Murder Texas native Rodney Reed was born on December 22, 1967. Just because he was acquitted doesn’t mean that he is NOT GUILTY. He also took rectal swabs but found only sperm heads with no tails. I looked at the situation differently and tried to put myself in Rodney Reed’s shoes. An autopsy provided further evidence Stites was raped, due to injuries around her genitals, according to an appeal filed in his case. On the 20th of November 2019, at 6:00pm, he will be put to death. Prayers followed up with action are what is going to make all the difference in bringing Rodney home alive. Currently, he is scheduled to die in just a few days on November 20, 2019. Reed faces the death penalty in Stites’ 1996 murder in a Bastrop, a suburb of Austin, Texas. Her mom, Carol Stites, said she was excited to marry Jimmy Fennell. He signed an affidavit describing the alleged confession. It must also be remembered that Rodney Reed had already commited rape and sodomy of 5 women. She took the early shift to help pay for her wedding gown, according to a 1998 article in the Austin American-Statesman. The inmate, Arthur Snow, was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood and serving a sentence for forgery. When I did, it weighed on my conscience. He is set to be executed on November 20. He determined that Stites died around 3:00 a.m. on April 23rd. Reed was originally scheduled to be executed on … The Texas Tribune takes a look at Reed's case as it is sent back to the … https://t.co/l7i5xu07Xq, — Dick and Sharon (@DickandSharon) July 19, 2020. I had to come forward with what I knew. He was scheduled to be executed on November 20, 2019, but his … He's scheduled to be executed on Nov. 20. But that finding was later contested. Rodney Reed, 51, is scheduled for execution on Nov. 20 for the 1996 murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Tex. "In the instant petition for a writ of certiorari, Reed has presented a substantial body of evidence that, if true, casts doubt on the veracity and scientific validity of the evidence on which Reed's conviction rests," Sotomayor wrote. But Reed, who insists he’s innocent, says he’s not thinking about the number of days he has left. Is Rodney Reed Guilty or Innocent? He was in a consensual relationship with Stacey Stites and the only DNA of Rodney’s that was found was from this consensual relationship. Take Action: Stop the Execution of Rodney Reed The petition filed today is based on two affidavits providing testimony from an insurance salesperson who stated that Fennell threatened to kill Stites while applying for life insurance. Reed, now 53, maintains his innocence. He said he and Fennell were “never really friends” but talked occasionally. In 1998, he was convicted of the rape and murder of …