The killer of Vicki Garner, who was murdered in Tyler in 1996, has delayed his date with the execution chamber in Huntsville for at least another month as a result of a paperwork snag.
Family members were bitterly disappointed when they learned the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) cancelled Robert Charles Ladd's execution - which was to have been held this Thursday, Dec. 11 - because of a paperwork delay.
"It was a crushing blow," Teresa Wooten, the sexual assault director at the SAFE-T women's shelter, said. "We had all worked so hard to set this date by the end of the year."
Judge Christi Kennedy of the 114th District Court in Tyler held a hearing and ruled the execution should move forward on Nov. 7. The request by Ladd's attorney for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied in October.
But Wooten said Judge Kennedy did not sign her court order until Nov. 13, thereby running afoul of a state law the specifies an execution cannot fall less than 31 days after the court order.
It seems to have simply been an error, Wooten said.
"When they realized their mistake, I will say they did their best to try to get around it," she said.
But the TDCJ followed the law and rejected the date. The order has now been filed, and the execution date reset for Jan. 29.
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