Death Row Stories

Tarrant County, Texas, accounts for just 7% of the state's population. Yet it has become one of the biggest users of the death penalty in Texas. Why? In this episode of Death Row Stories, I interview Estelle Hebron-Jones of the Texas Defender Service about a disturbing new report examining race and the death penalty in Tarrant County, home to Fort Worth. Researchers analyzed 431 cases original...

Did Texas just execute a man who never fully understood why he was being put to death? In this episode of Death Row Stories, I travel to Huntsville, Texas, to witness the execution of Jamaal Howard, a man whose attorneys argued was intellectually disabled and suffered from severe mental illness. As the U.S. Supreme Court considered a last-minute appeal, Howard's family, anti-death-penalty acti...

Christa Gail Pike was supposed to be executed on September 30, 2026. Instead, Tennessee suspended executions once again. What happened behind the closed curtains of Tennessee's execution chamber? And how did the state find itself confronting yet another crisis in its death penalty system? In this episode of Death Row Stories , we look at the events surrounding Christa Gail Pike's execution...

I traveled to Edna, Texas, to better understand the story behind the case that led to the executions of Norman and Ramey. After covering their executions for Death Row Stories, I wanted to see where the events unfolded and learn how the crimes affected the community that lived through them. But Edna's history extends beyond this murder case. The town also played a significant role in American...

His lawyer was a full-time dentist with no experience handling death penalty cases. Yet Texas sentenced Ker'Sean Ramey to death, and twenty years later, the state carried out his execution. In this episode of Death Row Stories, I travel to the Texas prison where Ker'Sean Ramey was executed and examine the crime, the trial, the appeals, the final hours, and the questions that still surround...

On September 16, 2026, the State of Texas executed LeJames Norman , who was sentenced to death for his role in a 2005 robbery that ended in the murders of three people. In this episode of Death Row Stories , I travel to Huntsville, Texas, to witness the execution and document the final hours before LeJames Norman's death. His daughter, son, sister, and a close friend attended as personal witne...

Thomas Miller-El was sentenced to death in Texas and faced execution 11 times. After spending years on Death Row, he was eventually given a life sentence. But instead of simply trying to survive prison, Thomas found a new purpose: helping other inmates change their lives. Today, he is a life coach inside the Texas prison system, teaching inmates how to think differently, understand their behavior,...

For 35 years, Eugene Broxton has lived in a tiny death row cell in Texas. He insists he did not commit the murder that sent him there. He says he has maintained his innocence from the very first police interrogation until today. In this exclusive interview, Eugene tells his story in his own words for what he says is the first time. He describes a childhood marked by abuse, years spent in prison be...

What do medieval witch hunts, public guillotines, and America's death penalty have in common? More than you might think. In this episode of Death Row Stories, I leave the United States and travel across France in search of places where people were once executed. The death penalty did not originate in America. It was inherited from Europe, where executions were part of everyday life for centuri...

On May 14 2026, Death Row Stories takes you inside a race against time as Texas prepares for what could become its 600th execution since 1976. From an early morning abolitionist press conference to a long, uncertain wait outside the prison, everything now depends on one question: will the execution of Edward Busby actually go forward tonight? At the center of the case is a major legal and moral is...

Texas is about to carry out its 600th execution since 1976. But this case is different. Edward Lee Busby Jr is scheduled to die for a brutal 2004 murder in Fort Worth. What he did was horrific. A 77-year-old woman, Laura Lee Crane, was taken at random from a grocery store parking lot and killed. Her family still carries that loss. But today, the focus has shifted to a critical question: should he...

At the gates of the Huntsville Unit, I witnessed one of the most controversial executions in recent Texas history. James Broadnax was put to death as serious doubts still surrounded his case, after his cousin Demarius Cummings recently claimed he was the actual gunman. In this episode of Death Row Stories, I report from outside the prison as protesters gather on both sides, families of the victims...

What really happens when the state kills someone? In this shocking episode of Death Row Stories, I sit down with Corinna Barrett Lain, author of Secrets of the Killing State, to expose the dark, hidden world of lethal injection, botched executions, and the secret systems behind the death penalty in America. For years, states have claimed lethal injection is clean, humane, and reliable. But what if...

In 1913, a 21-year-old man was executed in Texas after a trial he could not understand. This episode of Death Row Stories investigates one of the most disturbing and little-known cases in the history of the death penalty in Texas. Abram Ortiz was a young Mexican laborer working in South Texas. When a violent crime shocked the region, he was arrested and quickly brought to trial. But there was a ma...

In 1847, a United States–appointed governor was killed in his own home. He was shot with arrows and scalped in front of his family. What followed was one of the earliest mass executions carried out by American authorities. In this episode of Death Row Stories, I speak with Bob Romero, former president of the Taos County Historical Society and author of a history book on Taos. Standing on Taos Plaz...

What happens when a single decision changes everything? In this episode of Death Row Stories, Tyrone Williams speaks from inside Texas death row — not to explain a crime, but to reflect on the choices that can define a life forever. From refusing a plea deal to believing he acted to protect his children, Tyrone walks us through the moments where the path split… and never came back. Now diagnosed w...

From a stolen Secret Service briefcase at age 16… to a desperate escape from Texas Death Row… Charles Thompson spent his entire life running. In this exclusive, unfiltered interview filmed inside the Polunsky Unit, Charles reveals the wild path that led from drugs and fugitives to one of the most unbelievable escapes in U.S. prison history. For the first time, he walks us through the addictions, t...

Once lost to addiction and violence, David Collingsworth spent years behind bars in Texas. Today, he’s free — and his voice echoes inside the same prisons where he once lived. Through The Prison Show, a unique radio program broadcast across Texas prisons for over 45 years, David now connects inmates and their families — including those on Death Row. Every Friday night, messages of love, updates, a...

What happens when a rising singer is accused of a crime he didn’t commit—based only on lies? In this gripping episode of Death Row Stories , Perry Cobb takes us through his extraordinary life: from performing in Chicago nightclubs to being falsely accused of double murder. With no evidence against him—only the testimony of a witness later exposed as unreliable—Perry was tried five times , convicte...

What happens when a sociologist steps into the execution chamber—not just as a researcher, but as someone chosen to witness a man’s final moments? In this powerful episode, Dr. Sandra Joy shares her unique and deeply human perspective on the U.S. death penalty. A sociology professor at Rowan University and longtime death row witness, Sandra doesn’t just analyze the system—she's been inside it....

🔎 Who decides who lives—and who dies? In this new episode of Death Row Stories, we dive into the case of Demond Depree Bluntson, a Texas man incarcerated since 2012 and sentenced to death in 2016.His story spans years of legal twists, personal contradictions, and unanswered questions. In May 2025, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a major opinion about it. What did the jury know at the t...

Can discredited forensic science send innocent people to death row? Texas was the first state to pass a law—known as the Junk Science Law (Article 11.073) —giving prisoners a chance to challenge their convictions when the science used against them has since been debunked. But more than a decade later, is the law actually helping? In this episode of Death Row Stories , we speak with Estelle Hebron-...

Anthony Graves spent 18 years behind bars—12 of them on death row—for a crime he didn’t commit. Wrongfully convicted based on false testimony, Graves endured solitary confinement, relentless pressure to accept a plea deal, and the unimaginable weight of being labeled a murderer. But his story didn’t end with his release. Instead, it marked the beginning of his mission to expose the flaws of the ju...

How Texas Sent an Innocent Black Man to Death Row | Anthony Graves’ Shocking Story Imagine being taken from your home, accused of a brutal crime you didn’t commit, and sentenced to die—all without a shred of evidence. This is the unimaginable reality Anthony Graves faced. In this powerful third part of our exclusive interview, Anthony shares the harrowing moments of his sentencing, the pain of hea...

"I Was Framed for MURDER!" In this gripping second part of the tenth episode of Death Row Stories , Anthony Graves shares the nightmare of being wrongfully convicted of a brutal crime he didn’t commit. Anthony was living a normal life in Brenham, Texas, when Texas Rangers showed up and arrested him out of the blue. He had no idea why. His case exposes the harsh realities of racial prejud...