GRAYSON COUNTY, Texas — A competency hearing for Texas death row prisoner Andre Thomas, widely described as one of the most severely mentally ill people facing execution in the state, was postponed Tuesday after medical experts warned he is too mentally ill to be safely transported to court.
According to attorneys for Thomas, his execution date was withdrawn in 2023 to determine whether he is competent to be executed. The hearing was scheduled to begin Monday, March 9, 2026, but the date is now unspecified.
Attorneys for Thomas write that he has faced severe mental illness throughout his life. While growing up in extreme poverty, he began hearing voices at age 9, with his first suicide attempt occurring at age 10.
He repeatedly sought mental health help but did not receive it, despite being taken to a hospital where he was left alone.
In 2004, Mr. Thomas walked out of that hospital and murdered his estranged wife, a white woman, their son, and his wife’s daughter before stabbing himself in the chest. He then turned himself in to police, according to Thomas’ attorneys.
Attorneys for Thomas claim he currently experiences schizophrenia and has permanently blinded himself by gouging out both of his eyes and consuming one of them while in jail. He believed he was “following the commands of the divine voices in his head.”
Thomas’ attorneys also add that he experiences fixed delusions despite massive doses of antipsychotic medications, hallucinations, and has attempted suicide many more times while “seeking help for the incessant voices in his head.” Doctors who examined him concluded that he was psychotic and hallucinating.
The state’s experts were unable to reexamine Mr. Thomas amid concerns that he is too mentally ill to be safely transferred from Texas’ Wayne Scott Unit.
Dr. Joseph V. Penn filed a letter with the court describing Mr. Thomas as “one of the most impaired and complicated patients he has ever encountered.”
Dr. Penn added that Mr. Thomas’ mental illness is so intractable and severe that transferring him to Grayson County would raise serious concerns about additional self-harm and psychotic deterioration.
In July 2024, Dr. George Corvin, a court-appointed psychiatrist, conducted a 10-hour evaluation of Mr. Thomas and concluded that he is not competent to be executed under the prevailing legal standard.
Dr. Corvin stated, “The nature of his delusional beliefs directly undermines his understanding and comprehension of the circumstances surrounding his potential execution.”
According to Dr. Corvin, Mr. Thomas can articulate the government’s stated reason for executing him but does not believe it is the real reason.
He explains, “Mr. Thomas delusionally believes that the government would most likely be unsuccessful if they were to try to execute him, such that if his heart were to stop, it would immediately start again.”
The United States Supreme Court cites the Eighth Amendment as prohibiting the execution of a prisoner who has no rational understanding of why he is being executed.
The prisoner’s understanding must be meaningful, not simply because they can parrot the words of their execution based on a conviction for a certain offense.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of Mr. Thomas’ severe mental illness and inability to be transported for a competency hearing, attorneys for Thomas report that the state of Texas continues urging for his execution.
Thomas’ attorneys also highlight that at Mr. Thomas’ trial, jurors expressed racial bias in their jury questionnaires, showing overt opposition to biracial marriages and families.
The prosecution appealed to jurors’ racial prejudices by eliciting irrelevant testimony about sexual relationships Mr. Thomas had with other white women.
Attorneys for Thomas note that mental health professionals and organizations across Texas and the nation have expressed support for clemency for Mr. Thomas.
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