US Man, On Death Row For Killing His Family, Dug Out Eyes, Swallowed One

Six people sentenced to death have been hanged in America this year. (Representative)

Texas:

Lawyers for a Texas inmate sentenced to death for killing his wife, son and stepdaughter on Wednesday sought clemency from authorities because he is mentally ill.

Andre Thomas, 39, was convicted of murdering his family in 2004. His attorney, Maurie Levin, said at a press conference that he was “one of the most mentally ill prisoners in the history of Texas.”

“If ever there was a case that required mercy, it is this one,” she said.

Thomas had attempted suicide two days before the murders and was taken to hospital, where doctors concluded he was mentally ill – but he passed out when left alone for a moment , his lawyers said.

Five days after the crime, while under arrest, he gouged out his right eye – saying he was following a Biblical command, according to his lawyers.

While being sentenced to death he gouged out his other eye and swallowed it, “fearing the government might see his thoughts,” he said.

Thomas’ lawyers have asked Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the state’s pardon commission to stay his execution – set for April 5 this year – while he is assessed to see if he is deemed fit .

They also sought commutation of his sentence to life imprisonment.

Levin said, “The US Supreme Court has made abundantly clear that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of prisoners who, like Mr. Thomas, are insane and do not understand why they are being hanged.”

Thomas is being held in a unit for mentally ill prisoners.

“He is seriously mentally ill. He still has hallucinations … He only understands the world through a prism of his alternate reality,” Levine said.

Attorneys claimed that the trial jury was never made aware of Thomas’s mental state or his repeated attempts to get help.

He also alleged in a statement on the Legal Defense Fund website that the process was tainted by racism. Thomas is black, and his wife, Laura Boren, was white. Lawyers said the jury was entirely white, and racist overtones were shown during the trial.

Levin said he would seek a stay in state court as well.

So far this year, six people sentenced to death in America have been hanged.

According to humanitarian organizations, 22 more people are to be hanged this year.

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