This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Clark chapter.
In just a few days, Rodney Reed is scheduled to be executed. With many recent updates
supporting the doubt that Rodney Reed is not responsible for the murder of Stacey
Stites. He has been on death row for the past 21 years and maintains his innocence.
Many people including celebrities such as Rihanna, Oprah; democratic and republican
figures such as Ted Cruz have protested in order for Rodney Reed to get a chance to
clear his name. It seems each day new information regarding this case, supporting the
innocence of Rodney Reed has come out but Texas Governor, Greg Abbott has yet to take
any action.
For those who do not know about the Rodney Reed case: watch the news and do your
research, so you can form your own opinion.
My opinion: Rodney Reed at least deserves the chance to have his name cleared. With
the new evidence being brought forth, it is hard to look away from the case knowing he
is STILL scheduled for execution in a couple of days. The thought of an innocent man
being killed for a crime he did not commit, does not settle with me well. News of Stites’
ex-fiance allegedly sexually assaulting a woman while on duty as a police officer has
come out. The timeline he gave for the day Stites passed away seemed to make sense 21
years ago but today does not add up. Those in the ex-fiances life, such as colleagues have
come forward to talk about his behavior.
Reed was found guilty 21 years ago to the murder and rape of Stites due to a DNA
sample match of his semen inside Stites. Reed and Stites were in an intimate secret
relationship in the past, hence the discovery of his semen found in Stites. Reed was
convicted and charged by an all-white jury, who only took a couple of hours to decide
Reed deserved to be on death row. The Innocence Project has taken on the Reed case to
provide the courts with new evidence to help with his innocence.
Many believe Reed is innocent and many still do not believe it. His family has kept a
strong fight to make sure justice is served. Over 400k signatures have been signed on
Change.org for a petition named: STOP THE EXECUTION OF RODNEY REED.
I pray justice is served. For Reed, for Stites, for the families and friends.