The US Supreme Court granted a stay of execution for a Texas man just 20 minutes before he was scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Tuesday evening. The inmate, Ruben Gutierrez, has long maintained that DNA testing could help prove his innocence in the fatal stabbing of an 85-year-old woman during a home robbery decades ago.
Gutierrez was condemned for the 1998 killing of Escolastica Harrison in Brownsville, Texas. Prosecutors alleged that the murder of the retired teacher was part of a robbery attempt to steal over $600,000 she had hidden in her home due to her distrust of banks. Despite being charged, Gutierrez has consistently sought DNA testing to demonstrate his lack of involvement in the crime, with his attorneys highlighting the absence of physical or forensic evidence linking him to the murder.
