Mushmouth
05-11-2017, 09:39 AM
HOUSTON – A convicted rapist and murderer will be removed from death row because of new evidence and changes in the law, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Robert James Campbell, 44, was sentenced to death in the 1990s for the murder of Alexandra Rendon.
Rendon, a Houston bank teller, was kidnapped from a gas station and driven to a remote location in south Houston in 1991. Campbell and an accomplice raped and robbed her. Campbell then fatally shot Rendon in the back as she tried to run away.
"Can you imagine what she went through – her last moments of life? Being told run and being shot in the back. Raped," said Israel Santana, Rendon's cousin.
"To come home and turn on the TV and see his family outside the Huntsville unit dancing and celebrating," Santana said. "The law protected the wrong one there."
The court allowed defense attorneys to pursue an appeal, which claimed Campbell was mentally impaired due to his low IQ, and ineligible for the death penalty.
A 70 IQ is the minimum threshold set by the court.
http://www.khou.com/news/crime/convicted-rapist-murderer-to-get-off-death-row/438466843
Robert James Campbell, 44, was sentenced to death in the 1990s for the murder of Alexandra Rendon.
Rendon, a Houston bank teller, was kidnapped from a gas station and driven to a remote location in south Houston in 1991. Campbell and an accomplice raped and robbed her. Campbell then fatally shot Rendon in the back as she tried to run away.
"Can you imagine what she went through – her last moments of life? Being told run and being shot in the back. Raped," said Israel Santana, Rendon's cousin.
"To come home and turn on the TV and see his family outside the Huntsville unit dancing and celebrating," Santana said. "The law protected the wrong one there."
The court allowed defense attorneys to pursue an appeal, which claimed Campbell was mentally impaired due to his low IQ, and ineligible for the death penalty.
A 70 IQ is the minimum threshold set by the court.
http://www.khou.com/news/crime/convicted-rapist-murderer-to-get-off-death-row/438466843