Appeals court stays Texas first scheduled 2021 execution Follow Us
Question of the Day By - Associated Press - Friday, January 15, 2021
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A Texas appeals court has delayed what would have been the first execution scheduled in the state this year.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday granted the stay for Blaine Milam, 31, to review intellectual disability claims.
He had been set for lethal injection on Thursday for killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter during what the couple had said was part of an “exorcism.” He was convicted of capital murder for the December 2008 slaying of Amora Carson at his trailer in Rusk County in East Texas.
Texas closes state Capitol through Biden s inauguration
AUSTIN The Texas Capitol grounds will be closed through President-elect Joe Biden s inauguration amid warnings of armed protests at statehouses across the country, authorities said Friday.
The announcement adds Texas to the growing list of states taking new safeguards following last week s deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol. The Texas Department of Safety said the closure was done out of an abundance of caution and that additional personnel had been deployed, although it did not specify how many.
More than 100 troopers in riot gear were stationed outside the Texas Capitol earlier this week as lawmakers began a new legislative session. An internal FBI bulletin has warned of plans for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and in Washington, D.C., in the days leading up Biden inauguration on Wednesday.
Blaine Milam s attorneys can t convince the courts that his intellectual disabilities constitutionally bar his execution.
In the fall of 2008, Milam moved his girlfriend
Jesseca Carson and her daughter
Amora into his trailer outside Tatum, in rural Northeast Texas. Both he and Jesseca were 18 and she may have been experiencing postpartum psychosis. Shortly after moving in, Carson became convinced first that Milam, and then Amora, were possessed by the devil.
On December 2, 2008, Milam called police to report that Amora was dead. Police found the infant horribly battered, with abrasions, broken bones, and what were judged to be 24 human bite marks covering her body. Upon being taken into custody, Carson told police that she and Milam had attempted to perform an exorcism on the child.