Death row inmate asks for clemency

Plagued by mental illness, Texas death row inmate Andre Thomas started hearing voices when he was 9 years old and first attempted suicide when he was 10, his attorneys say.

Thomas’ psychosis, filled with religious delusions and hallucinations, became worse as he grew older. His family — beset by a long history of mental illness, addiction and poverty — was unable to help.

His lawyers say in March 2004, when he was 21, Thomas’ mental illness erupted in a burst of horrific violence in his hometown of Sherman, Texas. He fatally stabbed his estranged wife Laura Christine Boren, 20, their 4-year-old son Andre Lee and her 13-month-old daughter Leyha Marie Hughes, cutting out the hearts of the two children.

He later told police God had instructed him to commit the killings and that he believed all three were demons.

Thomas was sentenced to death for killing the little girl after jurors rejected his insanity defense. Prosecutors argued that he knew his conduct was wrong and exacerbated his mental condition with drug use. He has spent the last 15 years at a unit south of Houston for the state’s most mentally ill prisoners. The heavily medicated Thomas, now 39, is also blind. Twice since the killings, he has gouged out his eyes, eating one of them to ensure that the government could not hear his thoughts, his attorneys said.

Thomas’ attorneys say he will never be competent for his April 5 execution. They, along with over 100 faith leaders and dozens of mental health professionals on Wednesday asked Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute his sentence to life in prison or to grant a reprieve so the courts can determine his competency for execution.