Texas Prepares to Execute Man Convicted of Multiple Murders

HUNTSVILLE, TX — Texas is scheduled to execute Garcia White, 61, on Tuesday for multiple murders committed between 1989 and 1995, according to the Texas Tribune. 

White was convicted in 1996 for the murders of twin sisters Annette and Bernette Edwards, both 16 years old. Their mother, Bonita, was also killed, but White was not tried for her death.

According to reports, White went to the girls' home to smoke crack with Bonita. When the girls came out of their room to see what had happened, White attacked them. Evidence showed White broke down the locked door of the girls’ bedroom. 

A jury sentenced White to death after learning he had also killed Greta Williams in 1989 and convenience store clerk Hai Pham in 1995, though he was not tried for these murders either.

White has been on death row for nearly three decades, filing multiple unsuccessful appeals. His final appeal to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals was denied on Sunday, and his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court was still pending as of Tuesday morning.

White’s execution would mark the fifth carried out in Texas in 2024. Another execution is scheduled for Oct. 17, for Robert Roberson. 

The bodies of Bonita Edwards and her daughters were discovered in their home in December 1989, all with multiple stab wounds. The case remained unsolved until 1996, when White’s friend, Tecumseh Manuel, told police White had confessed to the murders.

Initially, White denied involvement, claiming that he and a man named Terrence Moore had gone to the Edwards’ home for drugs. White said a fight broke out when the drugs were not shared, leading to Moore stabbing Bonita and her daughters. However, further investigation revealed Moore had died four months before the killings. White later confessed to the crimes.

During sentencing, prosecutors presented evidence of White’s additional confessions to killing Williams and Pham. Pham, a Vietnamese immigrant, was beaten to death in 1995 in Houston. His son, Hiep Tuan Pham, testified that White was one of two men involved.

White attempted to stop his execution using Texas’ 2013 “junk science” law, which allows for retrials when science used in convictions is discredited. White claimed DNA evidence pointed to another suspect and argued he was suffering from a cocaine-induced psychotic episode during the Edwards’ murders. However, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected this argument.

White’s attorneys argued he is intellectually disabled and ineligible for execution. They maintain that his case highlights flaws in the state’s death penalty system. The state, however, contends the victims and their families deserve justice for White’s decades-old crimes.

White has spent nearly 30 years in prison and, according to his lawyer Patrick McCann, has worked to become a better man.