Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS: William Keith Speer, who was on death row in Texas, was granted a last-minute stay of execution resulting from the victim’s sister pleading on his behalf, as per PEOPLE Magazine.
Speer, 49, has been on death row for decades after being convicted for the murder of fellow inmate Gary Dickerson in 1997. The execution was halted less than five hours before he was slated to die by lethal injection on October 26.
William Keith Speer's last-minute stay of execution
William Keith Speer has lived nearly his entire life in prison since his conviction at 16 and spent the majority of his time on death row after he strangled his fellow inmate, Gary Dickerson.
However, the plea to stop his execution was backed by Sammie Martin, the sister of Dickerson, who wrote, "I have spent much time reflecting on what justice my brother and my family deserved," in a letter submitted to a federal court earlier this week, as per Associated Press.
She continued, "In my heart, I feel that he is not only remorseful for his actions but has been doing good works for others and has something left to offer the world."
In the stay order spanning two pages, the judges - who were not in complete agreement about the stay - reportedly refrained from expressing a viewpoint on most matters.
They listed Speer's five reasons for the stay without revealing their conclusions and deferred any final verdict regarding a potential execution to an undetermined future date.
In a press release, Burke Butler, Executive Director of Texas Defender Service, said, "Will Speer will live to see another day and continue to spread his message of hope and healing in Texas prisons."
He mentioned that "thousands" of individuals had joined Dickerson's sister and religious leaders "to tell Texas that Will's life was worth saving."
The case has drawn attention from across the country. Donna Coltharp, an assistant federal public defender from the Western District of Texas and a member of Speer’s legal team, informed Houston Landing that they are currently in a state of anticipation, awaiting a definitive verdict on his execution.
She further stated that the order grants Speer at least an additional 90 days. This eleventh-hour reprieve followed a letter that Martin had presented to the court in support of Speer earlier in the week.
William Keith Speer is a convicted two-time killer
William Keith Speer's first conviction was for the murder of his friend’s father when he was just 16 years old. While in prison, he joined a gang and was later convicted of a second murder.
Despite his past, Speer committed his life to Christ while behind bars and was baptized in June 2022.
He spent six months in a faith-based program at the Allan B Polunsky Unit, a maximum-security facility near Livingston. Later, Speer was selected as an inmate coordinator for the program and mentored fellow prisoners on Death Row.
William Keith Speer allegedly had an abusive childhood
William Keith Speer allegedly faced severe physical, emotional, and sexual abuse during his early years. His father reportedly forcibly injected him with methamphetamine throughout his childhood, and his stepfather, who later killed his mother, burned him with cigarettes.
Around the age of 9 or 10, Speer was apparently sexually abused by a 16-year-old boy. As a teenager, he became convinced that his friend's father was abusing him, leading to the murder that got him behind bars, as per PEOPLE Magazine.
