Garcia White is scheduled for execution in Texas on October 1, 2024 for the 1989 murders of Annette and Bernette Edwards.

The following background is from this 2015 article in the Austin Chronicle:

Appeals of White's sentence have painted him as a "kind, gentle soul" and "caring parent, devoted son and sibling" who fell into drug addiction after a knee injury derailed his college football prospects (and led to his departure from Lubbock Christian University). They note the brain damage White suffered after being hit by a baseball bat, and his below-average IQ, as well as the ways in which a detective used White's intellectual deficiency to circumvent his requests for legal representation during the interrogation in which he confessed to the killings. White's attorney Patrick McCann said during a 2002 application for writ of habeas corpus, that the confession should never have been entered into evidence. He added that six years of good behavior (and a clean record before his introduction to crack) suggested that White was no longer a threat to society. McCann has accused the Court of Criminal Appeals of being apathetic and suggested that the trial jury's conclusion that White might be a future threat could not be considered as factual, because the jury cannot foresee the future – although consideration of future dangerousness is one of the state's legal standards for capital punishment.

Successive appeals on many of the same grounds – and McCann's claim that new DNA testing could suggest the presence of another person at the murder scene – have all been denied.

Texas' aggressive execution schedule marks it as an outlier in its use of the death penalty while the majority of other states are on a downward trend of executions. In the last few years, Texas has been one of only a handful of states that have carried out death sentences - and it continues to do so targeting the poor, the mentally ill and people of color.

Please sign the petition asking Governor Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to do everything within their power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.

Additionally, you may reach out now to the Board at bpp_clemency@tdcj.texas.gov and the Governor at https://gov.texas.gov/contact/and (512) 463-1782. You can simply leave a voice message, or choose to speak to a representative if you prefer.

Please note: In Texas, the Governor does have limited power when it comes to the death penalty. But the story we are told that "it's out of the governor's hands," is only true if we allow it to be. Yes, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles must recommend clemency in that state in order for the Governor to grant clemency (mercy) by commuting a death sentence. But the fact is that the governor appoints the members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. He can choose to appoint members who will take valid claims and concerns more seriously, instead of acting like rubber-stamping gate-keepers. He can still use his position of power and influence to enact justice in the State of Texas