Robert James Campbell receives last minute stay.

Today, the 13th of May 2014, around 18.00 hours, Texas death row inmate Robert James Campbell was set to become the first offender executed since the "botched" execution of Clayton Lockett in Oklahoma. However, with just two hours to go, Campbell was granted a stay to allow his legal team to pursue appeals regarding whether his alleged mental impairments make him ineligible for execution.

Campbell was convicted of capital murder after he abducted, raped and shot Alexandra Rendon, 21, in 1991. Campbell's attorneys are arguing that because Campbell has an IQ of 69, he is not mentally competent for execution. The average acceptable score is 70 in most courts. Campbell's legal team submitted a flurry of last minute appeals throughout Tuesday, with the IQ issue being ruled on by the Supreme court while still being considered by the 5th circuit. Campbell's second request for information regarding naming the source of the execution drug was thrown out.

"I am happy. The lord has prevailed" Campbell was reported as saying on hearing news of his last minute stay. He was being held in the "death" cell at Huntsville awaiting his fate.

While Campbell maybe thanking the Lord, the loved ones of his victim are once again left wondering when, and if, justice will be served.

"This was not a shoot, rob and run away - the agony she suffered" said Miss Rendon's cousin, Israel Santana. It seems once again the victim's voice is drowned out in favor of the offender.


                                                         

Robert James Campbell
(Photo courtesy of CNN)