Another execution in Texas, after months of suspension due to coronavirus

Authorities in the US state of Texas on Wednesday proceeded to execute a man who had been convicted of triple, extremely violent murder, the second after multi-month suspension the imposition of fines due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

John Hamel, 45, was fatally injected into Huntsville Prison; his death was confirmed at 18:49 (local time).

In 2009, he stabbed his pregnant wife, killed his father-in-law and his five-year-old daughter with a baseball bat before setting fire to their home in Fort Worth, in the southern United States. According to prosecutors, he wanted to rebuild his life with another woman. During the defense, he had psychiatric problems, he suffered mental injuries after his tenure in the Marines.

He was due to be executed on March 17, 2020, but the court of appeals postponed the application of the sentence in extremis due to “the health crisis”. The appellants had explained that the execution would require the presence of many people, guards, lawyers, witnesses, journalists, and that there was a risk of the new coronavirus spreading.

In his case, all executions were suspended for months in the United States.

Texas, the South American state that enforces the death penalty more than any other, resumed executions on May 19 when Quentin Jones, an African-American man convicted of killing his grandmother, was killed.

Since the beginning of the year, with the exception of Texas, only the federal government has carried out executions – three, more specifically – shortly before Republican President Donald Trump ousted the White House.

You may also like