Thread by @helenprejean

#RodneyReed's attorneys filed a clemency petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles yesterday. The petition includes a new sworn statement from a man who says Jimmy Fennell confessed that he murdered Stacey Stites. Rodney Reed is innocent! Thread:

Some reminders: Rodney Reed was wrongfully convicted and sent to death row for killing Stacey Stites. Rodney is innocent – he did not kill Stacey. A lot of evidence suggests that Jimmy Fennell is the real killer.

Jimmy Fennell was a police officer until he pleaded guilty after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman he had in custody while on duty. Fennell did 10 years in prison as a result of this crime.

Now, a man who was in prison with Jimmy Fennell has come forward and made a sworn statement that Fennell confessed to murdering Stacey Stites. I will quote from the sworn statement. Warning: The statement does contain several racial slurs.

The new witness was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. In 2010, Jimmy Fennell approached the Aryan Brotherhood and offered to pay the gang money for "protection from the blacks and Mexicans at the prison."

The new witness was "never really friends" with Jimmy Fennell, but they did occasionally make conversation. The witness reports that one conversation with Fennell stands out very clearly in his mind.

Jimmy Fennell was "talking about his ex-fiancé [Stacey Stites] with a lot of hatred and resentment." Fennell said that Stacey "had been sleeping around with a black man behind his back." At the end of the conversation, Fennell said: "I had to kill my nigger-loving fiancé."

The witness reports that he believed Jimmy Fennell felt safe, even proud sharing that he had killed Stacey Stites for sleeping with a black man.

Other prisoners eventually learned that Jimmy Fennell was a cop and had sexually assaulted a woman in his custody. After that information came out, the Aryan Brotherhood could not protect Fennell anymore.

The new witness first learned about #RodneyReed after reading a newspaper article that included Jimmy Fennell's picture. That's when the witness "realized that Rodney Reed was sitting in prison for a murder that Jimmy Fennell had confessed that he had committed."

The new witness eventually let go of some of the prejudices he had learned in childhood and as part of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. He "looked at the situation differently" and tried to put himself "in Rodney Reed's shoes." The witness then decided to come forward.

There's already more than enough evidence to exonerate #RodneyReed. Top forensic experts agree that Rodney could not have killed Stacey Stites – it's medically and scientifically impossible. This new sworn statement further suggests that Jimmy Fennell is the real killer.

Texas still plans to execute #RodneyReed on November 20th even though it's so obvious that he is innocent. @GovAbbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles need to stop this execution immediately! Call @GovAbbott and let him know what you think: [phone].