Texas executes man convicted of 1991 double murder

Sept. 28 (UPI) -- Texas carried out its third execution of the year Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue a stay to a man convicted of a double murder three decades ago.

Rick Rhoades was declared dead at 6:29 p.m., The Huntsville Item and The Texas Tribune reported. He opted not to issue a final statement.

The Supreme Court issued its decision about an hour before the execution.

Rhoades, 57, was sentenced to death in 1992 for the murders of Bradley Allen and Charles Allen. Prosecutors said Rhoades stabbed the brothers to death as they slept after he entered their home and stole from them.

Rhoades said he stabbed the two men during a fight with them and didn't realize they had died until he saw the news later.

The murders happened one day after Rhoades was paroled after serving a six-year prison sentence for burglary.

Rhoades' attorneys previously sought a stay of execution from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, both of which denied him.

He filed a new application for a stay Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking more time to gather information about jurors on his case. Defense lawyers believe people of color may have been intentionally excluded from serving on the jury.

Rhoades was the first person convicted in Harris County to be put to death in two years, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. He was the third executed in Texas and sixth executed in the United States in 2021.