HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The Latest on the execution scheduled in Texas for a man who killed a San Antonio woman in 2004 (all times local):
9:30 p.m.
A Texas prisoner has been executed for killing a San Antonio woman after breaking into her apartment more than 13 years ago.
Forty-six-year-old TaiChin Preyor was put to death Thursday evening after his attorneys failed to convince courts that he had deficient legal help during earlier stages of his appeals and that he deserved a reprieve so his case could be reviewed more fairly.
After the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal, he was taken to the death chamber in Huntsville, Texas, for lethal injection.
This undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows TaiChin Preyor. Texas’ highest criminal court and a federal judge have refused to stop this week’s scheduled execution of Preyor, the convicted killer of a woman in San Antonio in 2004. Preyor is set for lethal injection Thursday, July 27, 2017, in Huntsville, for killing 24-year-old Jami Tackett during a break-in at her apartment. Tackett is described in court documents as a drug dealer and the 46-year-old Preyor as a customer and dealer. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP) (Associated Press)
Preyor was convicted in the February 2004 slaying of 24-year-old Jami Tackett, who court records identified as Preyor’s drug supplier. She was stabbed and her throat was cut.
Preyor’s execution was Texas’ fifth this year and the 16th nationally.
___
8:30 p.m.
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a Texas death row inmate set to die for breaking into a 24-year-old San Antonio woman’s apartment and fatally slashing her more than 13 years ago.
A brief order from the high court clears the way for the Thursday evening lethal injection of 46-year-old TaiChin Preyor.
Preyor’s attorneys went to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court similarly rejected arguments that deficient legal help during earlier stages of his appeals tainted his case, amounted to a fraud on the courts and that he should be spared from lethal injection so his appeals can be reviewed more fairly.
The court’s order came about 2 ½ hours after a six-hour execution window opened at 6 p.m. CDT as specified in the execution warrant. Texas prison officials refrain from carrying punishments while an appeal is pending.
Preyor was convicted of the slaying of Jami Tackett, who court records identified as Preyor’s drug supplier.
He’d be the fifth inmate put to death in Texas this year and the 16th nationally.
___
1 p.m.
A federal appeals court has refused to block the scheduled execution of a Texas prisoner who killed a San Antonio woman more than 13 years ago.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from lawyers for 46-year-old TaiChin Preyor. The attorneys contend he received deficient legal help during earlier stages of his appeals and he deserves a reprieve so his appeals can be reviewed more fairly.
His lawyers say they’ll now take their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Preyor would be the fifth Texas inmate put to death this year and the 16th nationally if his lethal injection is carried out Thursday evening.
He was convicted of breaking into the San Antonio apartment of 24-year-old Jami Tackett in February 2004 and fatally slashing her. Court documents show she was his drug supplier.
___
12:15 a.m.
Attorneys for a condemned killer of a San Antonio woman argue that deficient legal help during earlier stages of his appeals tainted his case.
They say Texas death row inmate TaiChin Preyor should be spared from being executed Thursday so his appeals can be reviewed more fairly.
Preyor is set for lethal injection for fatally slashing 24-year-old Jami Tackett in 2004. She’s identified in court documents as his drug supplier.
Preyor’s lawyers want a federal appeals court to stop the execution, which would be Texas’ fifth this year. They argue an inexperienced California attorney who handled earlier federal appeals in his case was “utterly unqualified” and that her use of a disbarred lawyer for guidance perpetrated a fraud on the courts.
State attorneys say the late appeals are legally improper.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
