Federal court stops execution of Dexter Johnson within 24 hours of his scheduled death

[Draggingtree]

Federal court stops execution of Dexter Johnson within 24 hours of his scheduled death

In his recent appeals, Johnson has claimed he is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for the death penalty. He was convicted of a double murder in Harris County that took place in 2006.

BY JOLIE MCCULLOUGH AUG. 14, 201914 HOURS AGO

. A federal appellate court halted the execution of Texas inmate Dexter Johnson on Wednesday evening, less than 24 hours before he was set to die.

The court stayed his execution and sent the case back to the district court to look into newly raised claims of intellectual disability.

Johnson, 31, was sentenced to death for his role in a double murder in 2006 days after he turned 18. Johnson and four other teens carjacked and robbed Maria Aparece, 23, and Huy Ngo, 17, while they sat in her car outside Ngo's house. According to court records, Johnson and the others took the young couple to a secluded area where Johnson raped Aparece before he and another teen shot them both, killing them.

The murders were part of what Harris County prosecutors have described as a 25-day crime spree by Johnson and others that also included three other slayings. Johnson has been on death row since his conviction in 2007.    https://www.texastribune.org/2019/08/14/dexter-johnson-texas-execution-stay/