Texas governor commutes death sentence, Florida execution delayed
By Jon Herskovitz
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Texas Governor Greg Abbott commuted the death sentence of a convicted murderer less than an hour before he was set to be executed on Thursday after the death row inmate's family pleaded with the state to grant clemency.
Thomas Whitaker, 38, was convicted of masterminding a 2003 plot against his family in which his mother Tricia, 51, and brother Kevin, 19, were killed. His father, Kent, was shot in the chest and survived.
On Tuesday, the Texas parole board in a unanimous decision recommended clemency based on his father's request. Abbott, a Republican, commuted the sentence to life in prison.
A devout Christian and retired executive, Kent Whitaker said he had forgiven his son and that his family did not want him to be executed. In a clemency petition, the father said if the death penalty were implemented, it would make his pain worse.
An execution planned for Thursday in Florida was delayed as the U.S. Supreme Court heard a last-minute appeal, a prisons official said,
There is also an execution planned for Alabama on Thursday.
(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Additional reporting by David Beasley in Atlanta and Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)
