Reginald Reeves

Timeline

• September 5, 1993 — Sharon Forte and Jenny Lynn Weeks agreed to run away from a group foster home and travel to Forte's home in Clarksville.
• September 9, 1993 — The body of 14-year-old Jenny Lynn Weeks was discovered in the closet of an abandoned home in Clarksville, Texas.
• September 10, 1993 — Reeves, accompanied by his mother, turned himself into police in Clarksville.
• October 4, 1994 — A jury convicted Reeves of capital murder.
• October 23, 1996 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the judgment and sentence in an unpublished opinion.
• December 9, 1996 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused Reeves' motion for rehearing as untimely.
• February 18, 1998 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied habeas relief.
• October 2, 1998 — The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas dismissed a habeas case on Reeves's own motion.
• November 16, 2000 — The district court entered final judgment denying federal habeas relief.
• January 4, 2002 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the district court's judgment denying federal habeas relief.
• April 4, 2002 — Reeves filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court challenging the Fifth Circuit's denial of relief.
• May 6, 2002 — Reeves filed a motion for stay of execution with the Supreme Court.
• May 9, 2002 — Reeves was executed by lethal injection in Texas; he was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m.

Background

Reginald Lenard Reeves was convicted of the capital murder of 14-year-old Jenny Lynn Weeks in Clarksville, Texas. He was scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on May 9, 2002.

Weeks had earlier run away from a group foster home and had been befriended by Reeves. Reeves had a brief criminal history prior to the murder of Jenny Lynn Weeks:

• In July 1985, when Reeves was 11, he assaulted two boys, ages seven and five. Reeves forced the boys to pull down their pants, and when they complied, Reeves stuck a sharp stick into their rectums. Reeves was placed on informal probation with juvenile authorities as a result.
• In November 1990, Reeves was again placed on informal probation with juvenile authorities.
• Leading up to this probation, Reeves' mother had contacted police and juvenile authorities on several occasions and asked them to speak with Reeves about his "unruly" behavior.
• The informal probation agreement was eventually imposed when Reeves assaulted his mother and followed with an assault on another individual.

In the circumstances leading up to the murder, Sharon Forte, who was 17 years old at the time of trial, was living in a group foster home in Paris, Texas, in September 1993 where she met Jenny. On September 5, 1993, Forte and Jenny agreed to run away and travel to Forte's home in Clarksville.

During the period after the murder and the proceedings described:

• In July 1994, a change of venue was granted.
• In October 1994, a jury convicted Reeves and assessed punishment at death by lethal injection.
• After automatic review, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the conviction and sentence.
• Reeves did not file a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court.
• Reeves filed an application for state writ of habeas corpus, followed by federal habeas proceedings and appeals, including a Fifth Circuit decision in January 2002.

The offence

On the evening of September 9, 1993, Charlene Cathcart observed two figures carrying what appeared to be a roll of carpet into an abandoned and partially burned house across the street. Cathcart returned to her home and telephoned the police. Clarksville police investigators arrived at the abandoned home around midnight and found the body of a young female, 14-year-old Jenny Lynn Weeks, in a hallway closet.

The chief medical examiner for Dallas County noticed numerous injuries, including bruising and abrasions to Jenny's face, neck, chest, knees, legs, ankles, buttocks, and back, fingernail marks on the neck consistent with an attempt to free herself from a stranglehold, and broken or cracked fingernails on both hands consistent with defensive injuries. The medical examiner noted that the back of Jenny's shorts and underwear were "blood-soaked" with a "significant amount of blood." Hairs were recovered from her right buttock, pubic area, leg, and clothing.

Toxicology indicated an ethanol level of .05 percent, which was one-half the level of legal intoxication. An internal examination revealed multiple hemorrhaging of Jenny's skull and neck. The neck injuries were indicative of "significant" pressure having been applied, and the medical examiner concluded that the cause of death was strangulation. Based on the totality of the examination and the medical examiner's past evaluations, the medical examiner believed that the sexual activity was more consistent with "forced" sexual activity than with consensual activity.

Separate accounts of the circumstances included details that:

• Weeks was bitten, raped, beaten, and strangled to death.
• She was also described as being severely beaten, bitten, wrapped up in a rug, and dumped in an old abandoned house.
• Reeves' victim had been a runaway from Gun Barrel City, Texas and had fled a Paris, Texas group home at the time of her death.

Investigation

After police responded and found Weeks in the abandoned house, Reeves later turned himself into police in Clarksville in the described timeline.

On the evening of September 10, 1993, Reeves, accompanied by his mother, turned himself into the police. The following day, the other potential suspect, Ralph Brown, also turned himself into the police.

Reeves' apartment was searched. Police described the apartment as neat and orderly, as if it had just been cleaned. Investigators found a pair of shorts, a bed sheet, and a pillowcase in a laundry basket inside a closet and took them into custody. A gym bag was also found in the closet and seized. Inside the gym bag was a purse containing a diary and other items bearing Jenny's name. Hairs were collected from the bedroom floor, the bed sheet, and the pillowcase.

Saliva, blood, pubic hair, head hair, and teeth impressions were taken from Reeves and Brown. Forensic analysis revealed that head hair recovered from Jenny's leg and a pubic hair recovered from her buttocks were consistent with Reeves' hair samples. None of the hairs recovered were consistent with having come from Brown. The bite mark on Jenny was consistent with having been made by Reeves, to the exclusion of Brown. Blood found on Jenny's T-shirt was consistent with Reeves' type, also to the exclusion of Brown. Evidence indicated that Jenny had known Reeves for less than a week at the time of her death.

Additional testimony and evidence included diary writings:

• Sharon Forte identified the diary recovered from Reeves' apartment as one she had given to Jenny.
• Sharon Forte also identified the handwriting in the diary as Jenny's.

The diary entries described included:

• September 4, 1993 — Jenny wrote that she met a girl named Sharon, who was planning on running away next day and told Jenny she would help get to Dallas.
• September 6, 1993 — Jenny wrote she had run away the night before and was hoping to "get to Dallas soon."
• September 7, 1993 — Jenny wrote that she was "at another place," was "kinda lonely but very happy," and was not afraid.
• September 9, 1993 — The victim wrote that she was "very happy," "lonely for everyone back home," "listening to oldies music," and that she would "be in Dallas soon."

Witness testimony and surrounding events placed Reeves in contact with Jenny shortly before the offence:

• Sharon Forte described meeting Jenny in September 1993 in a group foster home in Paris, Texas, and running away on September 5, 1993.
• Forte said she left with Jenny after meeting Forte's boyfriend, Raymond Jackson, and that Jackson drove them to his mother's house in Clarksville where they stayed for a day or two.
• Forte said Reeves, a friend and cousin of Jackson's, came to Jackson's house, met Jenny, and offered for her to stay at his apartment; Jenny agreed.

Arrest

On the evening of September 10, 1993, Reeves, accompanied by his mother, turned himself into police in Clarksville. The following day, Ralph Brown also turned himself into police.

Trial

Reeves pleaded not guilty.

Procedural history included:

• On July 21, 1994, the trial court granted a change of venue from Red River County to Bowie County.
• On October 4, 1994, the jury convicted Reeves of capital murder.
• After a subsequent hearing on punishment and based on the jury's answers to the special punishment issues, the trial assessed punishment at death by lethal injection.
• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the judgment and sentence in an unpublished opinion dated October 23, 1996.
• On December 9, 1996, the Court of Criminal Appeals refused Reeves' motion for rehearing as untimely.

Witness evidence described included:

• Raymond Jackson's testimony about being at Reeves' apartment on two occasions on the night of the offence (approximately 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.) and that they were drinking beer at the second visit. Jackson said he asked Reeves about the situation with Jenny; Reeves denied a sexual relationship, saying Jenny was like a sister to him, and said he planned to take her to Dallas so she could visit a boyfriend.
• Statrice Carreathers, who was 20 years old at the time of trial, testified about being near a school building approximately one-half mile from Reeves' apartment, and described Reeves approaching shortly after midnight while friends were discussing a man's possible suicide at a vacant house. Carreathers said Reeves told her "it wasn't an old man that had committed suicide ... it was a girl." When asked how he knew, Reeves said because "he had done it" and identified the victim as a "fourteen-year-old girl." Reeves said he had choked, strangled and punched the girl. Carreathers said Reeves had a few scratches on his arms, she did not believe Reeves, and she believed he had probably just been drinking. Carreathers said she did not smell alcohol on Reeves or notice signs of intoxication.

Further testimony included:

• Arlene Chilton, 16 years old at the time of trial, identified the diary recovered from Reeves' apartment as one she had given to Jenny and identified the handwriting as Jenny's.
• Additional diary excerpts described the victim's movements and feelings in the days leading up to the murder.

Sentencing

Appeals

On automatic review, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the judgment and sentence in an unpublished opinion dated October 23, 1996.

• Reeves filed an application for state writ of habeas corpus on August 18, 1997. The state habeas court issued findings of fact and conclusions of law recommending that relief be denied, and the Court of Criminal Appeals denied habeas relief on February 18, 1998.
• Reeves filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas on August 24, 1998. The district court, on Reeves's own motion, dismissed the case on October 2, 1998.
• Reeves returned to state court and filed a second application for state habeas relief; the Court of Criminal Appeals dismissed the application as an abuse of the writ on February 3, 1999.
• Reeves filed a second petition for habeas relief in federal district court; the district court entered final judgment denying federal habeas relief on November 16, 2000.
• Appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit followed. On January 4, 2002, the Fifth Circuit upheld the district court's judgment denying Reeves federal habeas relief.
• Reeves filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court challenging the Fifth Circuit's denial of relief on April 4, 2002.
• On May 6, 2002, Reeves filed a motion for stay of execution with the Supreme Court.

Outcome

Reeves was executed by lethal injection in Texas on May 9, 2002. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m., 10 minutes after receiving the lethal injection.

At the time of the execution, witnesses included the victim's mother, Sherry Delamar, her father, Larry Weeks, and her stepfather, Randy Delmar. Reeves's spiritual advisor, Adriana Breidenstein, and TDCJ chaplain Vance Drum were also in attendance.

Aftermath

Reeves made a final statement shortly before his execution.

He received a last meal consisting of four pieces of fried chicken and two Cokes.

Final words and last statement included the following verbatim quotations:

I do apologize with all my heart and soul.
I do apologize with all my heart and soul. I apologize for taking the life of your daughter, and I know how much pain you must be in. Today, this does not bring you peace because this is not really the way. I want you to know I do love you. We're all one big family in humanity.

Additional verbatim quotations included:

• Reeves said: "I pray we may all learn to love and forgive and have peace in this world"
• Reeves said: "I pray that we may all learn to love and forgive so that we can have peace in the world."
• Reeves said: "Until then, this will continue to happen-capital punishment; and if we don't forgive, sooner or later we will self-destruct."
• Reeves said: "I want you to know I do love you. We're all one big family in humanity."
• Reeves said: "I apologize for taking the life of your daughter and I know how much pain you must be in because I saw my own family today", Reeves said.
• Reeves told the prison warden: "I will see you on the other side. Thank you for your hospitality."
• Reeves then said: "I love you mother."
• Reeves also said: "I apologize for taking the life of your daughter and I know how much pain you must be in because I saw my family today."

The victim's family chose not to comment following the execution.

A statement attributed to a friend of Reginald Reeves was included and read as follows:

Well, an old friend of mine is scheduled for execution in Texas (of course) on May 9, 2002. I just wanted to tell you a little bit about him. His name is Reginald Reeves. He is funny and smart. Reggie grew up in a very poor community, where most kids really don't have much of a chance. He has a large family that loves him dearly. They have all forgiven him for his crime. Reggie loves music. We used to write each other, and in every letter he sent to me, he talks about a new song that has touched him in some way. One of his favorites use to be "I Believe I Can Fly." Reggie quit writing me a few years ago. He withdrew from everyone. I believe he is just trying to make it a little less painful for us all. I miss Reggie, and I will always remember our friendship.