Rodney Reed, a 51-year-old Black man who was accused of killing a 19-year-old white woman in 1996, is due to be executed on November 20.

According to the Innocence Project, an organization which strives to exonerate wrongly convicted people, Reed has been on death row in Texas for the murder of Stacey Stites. The Innocence Project maintains that there is substantial evidence which can exonerate Reed and implicate Stites’ fiancé Jimmy Fennell, a local police officer.

1. Reed's defense says prosecutors used inaccurate science.

According to Newsweek, prosecutors said Reed kidnapped Stites while she was driving to work, raped her and strangled her, leaving the body in a remote area of Bastrop, Texas. Reed defended himself, saying his sperm was found inside Stites' body because they slept together the day before while having an affair. Reed's defense said the prosecution relied on inaccurate science, listening to experts who said sperm from 24 hours earlier wouldn't have been present at the time of Stites' death.

2. Former inmate says Fennell confessed to the murder.

Former prison inmate Arthur Snow Jr. recently filed an affidavit in court, saying Fennell confessed to the murder years ago, CNN reported. In his affidavit, Snow said he was in prison with Fennell when he heard the confession.

According to Snow, Fennell said his fiancé had been sleeping around with a Black man behind his back, so he had to kill her.

"Toward the end of the conversation Jimmy said confidently, 'I had to kill my n****r-loving fiancé,'" Snow wrote. "My impression was that Jimmy felt safe, even proud, sharing this information with me because I was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. I think Jimmy assumed that his confession would impress me and earn him credibility with the Aryan Brotherhood."

3. A petition to save Reed's life has more than 2 million signatures.

Reed's supporters have created a petition urging Texas Governor Greg Abbott to stop the convicted man's death. The petition, which has more than 2 million signatures, is asking that people call Governor Abbott and other officials.

"We need to persuade Governor Greg Abbott, the Board of Pardons and Paroles, the Bastrop County District Attorney Brian Goertz, and other conservative elected officials to stay this execution, review all of the evidence that exonerates Rodney and eventually grant him a new trial," the petition states.

According to the petition, there is a mountain of evidence which can exonerate Reed, but it was kept from the all-white jury that convicted him. Advocates for Reed said Abbott can grant clemency, stop or delay the execution.

4. Community organizations, celebrities and even police officers are advocating for Reed's freedom.

Reed's support group includes celebrities, police officers and pastors. According to KVUE, 13 police officers filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to consider new evidence in Reed's case, asserting his execution doesn't align with their principles as officers and that his alleged guilt isn't well-supported. Texas pastors also held a rally to show their support for Reed.

"No one should be executed when there is reasonable or even possible evidence of their [innocence]," Pastor Gaylon Clark told KVUE. "Let the evidence take us where it leads."

Kim Kardashian West joined the fight when she went to Twitter to plead with Abbott.

"How can you execute a man when since his trial, substantial evidence that would exonerate Rodney Reed has come forward and even implicates the other person of interest," Kardashian West tweeted. "I urge you to do the right thing."

PLEASE @GovAbbott How can you execute a man when since his trial, substantial evidence that would exonerate Rodney Reed has come forward and even implicates the other person of interest. I URGE YOU TO DO THE RIGHT THING.

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) October 19, 2019

5. Reed continues to assert his innocence.

Reed maintained his innocence in a recent jailhouse interview with ABC News.

“Early on I was somewhat upset, just for knowing her. If I wouldn’t have known her, I wouldn’t have been associated with her [and] I wouldn’t be in this situation,” Reed told ABC News’ Deborah Roberts. “But, this is the situation that was handed to me so I have [to] accept … that I did know her. I have to accept that there was a relationship. I have to accept that I’m here now for something that I didn’t do.”

Reed, who was sentenced to death by an all-white jury, told ABC News that race has been a factor in his case.

“None of them look like me but I grew up in the military. I was a military brat. I figured that they would hear the evidence and know that I’m innocent,” Reed said. “Race played a big part. I didn’t see it at first. I wasn’t seeing racism like that.”

Stacey Stites

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