The idea that someone can be too mentally ill to be executed is gaining traction in Texas, where the Legislature is considering HB 727, which would exempt people with severe mental illness—including schizophrenia or bipolar disorder—from being sentenced to death. But while signaling a more clear-eyed view of mental health and the criminal justice system, the bill would not provide retroactive relief for some Texas prisoners, including one man whose execution date looms.
On April 5, the State of Texas plans to execute Andre Thomas, who was sentenced to death in 2005 at the age of 21 after he murdered his estranged wife, Laura Boren, their 4-year-old son Andre Jr., and Boren’s 13-month-old daughter, Leyha Hughes. Thomas, who had suffered from hallucinations and suicidal ideation since he was a child, was convinced the three were working with the devil. The act was ritualistic: He used a different knife for each victim to avoid cross-contaminating their blood, and he removed some of their organs. He then stabbed himself in the chest in an unsuccessful attempt to take his own life.
Thomas, a Black man, was convicted of Leyha’s murder by an all-white jury in 2005 and sentenced to death, despite a mountain of mitigating evidence that, if presented by the defense, could have altered the outcome.
