Anti-death penalty activists protest against the death penalty in Texas

Anti-death penalty advocates held a rally in Texas this weekend calling for the abolition of the death penalty, as several high-profile death row cases in Texas and other states have sparked debate over whether the death penalty should remain.

Former death row inmates spoke Saturday at the 25th annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty, according to Fox 26. During the march held each fall, state abolitionists, former death row inmates and allies opposed to the death penalty have all come together to demand an end to the death penalty. the state-sanctioned deaths of death row inmates.

Many of the attorneys said they are fighting for innocent people like Robert Roberson, who is currently on death row following his conviction in which prosecutors say he killed his two-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, by shaking her to death, also known as shaking . baby syndrome. But his lawyers say Nikki actually died of other health problems, such as pneumonia, and that new evidence proves his innocence. His lawyers also said doctors had failed to rule out these other medical explanations for the child’s symptoms.

Roberson was scheduled to be put to death Thursday before the Supreme Court issued a stay to delay his execution shortly before it was scheduled to take place. He is believed to have been the first person in the US to be executed for shaken baby syndrome.

TEXAS JUDGE GRANTS DECISION FOR EXECUTION OF MAN IN ‘SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME’ CASE

A sign placed by opponents of the death penalty stands in front of the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City, Indiana, Thursday, December 10, 2009. (AP)

The stay was issued Thursday evening after a bipartisan group of state lawmakers subpoenaed Roberson to testify about his case Monday. The ruling came after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied a request for a stay of execution earlier Thursday evening, reversing the judge’s temporary order issued earlier that day.

More than 80 Texas state lawmakers, as well as the detective who helped the prosecution, medical experts, parenting rights groups, human rights groups, best-selling author John Grisham and other advocates have called on the state to grant Roberson clemency due to the belief that he is innocent. A group of state lawmakers also visited Roberson in prison to cheer him on.

At the rally in Texas, former death row inmate Pamala Tise said she had been locked up for a total of 40 years.

Lawyer for Texas death row inmate says there was no crime as she makes final effort to save his life

Texas lawmakers meet with Robert Roberson at a prison in Livingston, Texas, September 27, 2024. (Caucus for Criminal Justice Reform via AP)

Tise was sentenced to death at the age of 24 after her conviction on two counts of capital murder, Fox 26 reported. Her initial conviction was overturned in 1983, but after a retrial she was sentenced to death again. The following year she was placed on death row again and remained there until 2000.

“I was not innocent of my crime. When I committed my crime I was using a lot of drugs and when I came off drugs a week later and realized what we had done, I turned myself in to the police,” Tise said. according to Fox26.

But in 2000, her conviction was overturned due to a conflict of interest. She was taken off death row after a plea deal that reduced her murder charge to two counts of aggravated robbery.

Photo shows the stretcher in the execution chamber of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, file)

“So I went in at 24 and came out at 64,” says Tise, who now campaigns against the death penalty.

‘Having someone executed would be the easy way out for me. Spending the rest of your life in prison is hell,” Tise added.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Gloria Rubac, organizer of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, said, “Harris County has more people on death row than any state.”

The activists said they hope a court will hear the new evidence in Roberson’s case when he testifies Monday.