Texas Murderer Spared From Execution Over DNA Testing Concerns

Ruben Gutierrez was spared being executed less than an hour before it was scheduled to take place, leaving the victim's family devastated. Gutierrez was set to be put to death just after 6 pm on Tuesday, July 16th, 2024, but it looks like things have changed. His arguments regarding DNA testing in a lower court ruling led to an order to halt the execution by the high court.

According to USA TODAY, Gutierrez has been asking for DNA testing for over a decade to prove his innocence in the brutal murder of 85-year-old retired school teacher Escolastica Harrison in 1998. While he admits to planning on robbing her with two other assailants, he claims DNA testing would exonerate him from her involvement in her murder.

Experts claim he is simply using "delay tactics" to prolong his inevitable fate. Meanwhile, the victim's family members are fed up with the process and beginning to lose hope they will ever see justice served for Harrison.

"This is the third time we've jumped through all their hops and done everything that they've asked. And now you're telling us that it's not going to happen. I mean it's just numbing, devastating, unbelievable.", Harrison's nephew Alex Hernandez told USA TODAY. 

Escolastica Harrison was simply enjoying retirement after working as a teacher and managing a trailer park when she was allegedly robbed and stabbed to death 13 to 14 times with a screwdriver by people she was acquainted with. Gutierrez was a frequent visitor to her trailer park who befriended her and ran errands for her, which led to his discovery she kept quite a bit of cash in her home.

For more updates on this tragic story, click here.