SAN ANTONIO – It was the first execution in Texas since July 2020.
Quintin Jones, who was convicted of killing his great aunt in 1999, was given the lethal injection on Wednesday evening.
While there were not unusual circumstances with the execution itself, no media was there to witness it.
Of the previous 572 executions that have taken place since capital punishment resumed in Texas in 1982, this was the first time media wasn’t present.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice is now investigating how this mix-up happened.
In a statement to KSAT 12, TDCJ spokesperson Jason Desel stated, “As a result of a miscommunication between officials at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, there was never a call made to summon the media witnesses into the unit. We apologize for this critical error. The agency is investigating to determine exactly what occurred to ensure it does not happen again.”
Media presence inside the chamber is of critical importance to provide accurate detail of the execution.
Typically during an execution there are guaranteed seats for the Associated Press and a local news outlet.
Members of the media were waiting to be called into Jones’ execution but the call was never made.
Desel said he was not aware whether this critical error violated state law or agency policy since it has never happened before.
The next scheduled execution is June 30.