Edward Busby Jr., a man described by experts for both the prosecution and the defense as intellectually disabled, is executed in Texas for the 2004 killing of a retired college professor, according to multiple reports. CBS News identifies the victim as a Texas Christian University (TCU) professor. The executions proceeds as Texas carries out its 600th execution since the state resumed using the death penalty in 1982, with outlets reporting that Busby’s execution occurred Thursday evening.
Several sources say the U.S. Supreme Court lifts a stay that had delayed the execution, clearing the way for Texas to proceed despite Busby’s intellectual-disability claims. The Washington Times and CBS News describe the Supreme Court’s decision as coming from a divided court. The Independent likewise reports that experts said Busby was intellectually disabled and notes the significance of the execution number in Texas’s death-penalty history. The reports characterize the case as centered on the legality and timing of the execution following the Supreme Court’s action on Busby’s claims.
