AUSTIN, Texas — Texas executed Edward Lee Busby, Jr., on Thursday night despite claims from experts that he had an intellectual disability that should have exempted him from the death penalty, marking what the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty described as a “grim milestone” in the state’s capital punishment history.
Busby’s death marked the 600th execution carried out by Texas since capital punishment resumed in 1982.
Busby was executed despite “agreement from experts that he had intellectual disability and should have been exempt from the death penalty.” According to TCADP, the Supreme Court of the United States vacated a stay previously granted by the Fifth Circuit Court of Criminal Appeals, and within an hour, the execution process was set to begin.
In a 6-3 vote, TCADP wrote in a statement that “Justice Jackson, joined by Justice Sotomayor,” forcefully dissented. Justice Jackson wrote, “In capital cases, we rarely intervene to preserve life. I cannot understand the Court’s rush to extinguish it, much less in the circumstances of this case. With respect, I dissent.”
According to the organization, most of the court did not provide an explanation for its decision.
Edward Lee Busby was convicted in 2005 in Tarrant County for the kidnapping and killing of Laura Lee Crane, which the organization argued reflected broader systemic issues within Texas’ death penalty system. TCADP stated that Busby, a Black man, highlighted racial disparities and geographic concentration in capital prosecutions.
The significance of Busby becoming the 600th person executed in Texas’ modern death penalty era “exemplifies everything that is wrong with the Texas death penalty: its arbitrariness and geographic isolation; its racially biased application; and the procedural barriers to relief, even in the face of egregious constitutional violations,” the organization stated.
Reinstatement of capital punishment in Texas began with the execution of Charlie Brooks, Jr., on Dec. 7, 1982. TCADP said the milestone reflects not only those executed by the state, but also “the thousands upon thousands of people who have been impacted by the death penalty system.”
The organization stated that this included “victims’ families, defendants’ families, jurors, attorneys, corrections officers and journalists.”
Both executions and death sentences in Texas “have remained at record low levels for the past seven years.” However, according to TCADP, most executions carried out today stem from death sentences imposed decades ago, and current sentencing trends indicate significantly reduced use of capital punishment.
Information from the Death Penalty Information Center showed that many individuals executed over the past four decades likely would not receive death sentences if prosecuted today, with TCADP stating that “seventy-one percent of these 600 executions occurred between 1996 and 2015; in the last decade, the State has put 69 people to death.”
TCADP wrote that “Texans are increasingly abandoning the death penalty as a path to justice,” as only a small number of counties continue seeking new death sentences. The system remains “arbitrary and racially biased,” and it disproportionately impacts vulnerable individuals while imposing substantial costs on taxpayers.
“Tonight, our thoughts are with Mr. Busby, his family, and his legal team, the family of Laura Lee Crane, and with all Texans who seek a fairer, more proportionate justice system,” TCADP expressed in a statement offering sympathy to Busby’s family.
The organization concluded by saying it will continue advocating for “a restorative and redemptive” justice system while working to end the death penalty in Texas.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
