{"id":462705,"date":"2026-10-11T05:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T05:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/462705\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T05:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T05:04:09","slug":"it-still-haunts-me-to-death-death-row-exoneree-shares-emotional-story-at-texas-capitol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/462705\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It still haunts me to death,’ death row exoneree shares emotional story at Texas Capitol"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 People from across Texas are calling on the state government to abolish the death penalty.<\/p>\n

The event brought together advocates, families, and people who once faced execution themselves.<\/p>\n

RELATED | ‘Beyond disgusting’: Hegseth faces bipartisan backlash over plan to livestream execution<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\u2018It<\/p>\n

\u2018It still haunts me to death,’ death row exoneree shares emotional story at Texas Capitol. (CBS Austin\/Brenna Gibbons)<\/p>\n

People gathered here at the Texas State Capitol today, calling for an end to the death penalty.<\/p>\n

But for some of those attending, this issue is deeply personal. And their experiences are at the center of today’s march.<\/p>\n

“I can’t get those words out of my head,” death row exoneree, Shujaa Graham, said. “\u2018Mr. Graham, we sentence you to die. December 8 at San Quentin until gas penetrated upon your personhood, and you will no longer in society.\u2019 Bam! 15 minutes later, I was on San Quinton’s death row.”<\/p>\n

\"Graham<\/p>\n

Graham spent years on California’s death row after being convicted of killing a prison guard. His conviction was overturned, and he was eventually acquitted. (CBS Austin\/Brenna Gibbons)<\/p>\n

Graham spent years on California’s death row after being convicted of killing a prison guard.<\/p>\n

His conviction was overturned, and he was eventually acquitted.<\/p>\n

ALSO | Fort Hood shooter to face firing squad Dec. 3 after execution date is set<\/a><\/p>\n

But more than 40 years later, he said those memories still haunt him.<\/p>\n

“After 11 long years, my greatest nightmare had finally come to an end,” Graham said. “But it wasn’t true. It still haunts me to death.”<\/p>\n

\"\u2018It<\/p>\n

\u2018It still haunts me to death,’ death row exoneree shares emotional story at Texas Capitol. (CBS Austin\/Brenna Gibbons)<\/p>\n

Several people marched from Capitol to Governor’s mansion and back Saturday, demanding an end to the death penalty.<\/p>\n

The march comes at a pressing time for Texas inmates on death row.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the state executed 46-year-old Jamaal Howard for fatally shooting a convenience store clerk in 2000.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

People gathered here at the Texas State Capitol today, calling for an end to the death penalty. (CBS Austin\/Brenna Gibbons)<\/p>\n

And last month, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to accept a lower court’s ruling that death row inmate Melissa Lucio was actually innocent in the death of her daughter.<\/p>\n

Dr. Amite Dominick, Founder and President for Texas Prisons Community Advocates, told us the impact goes beyond prison walls.<\/p>\n

“These family members are fighting tooth and nail for justice for their loved ones who are on death row,” Dominick said. “They are trying to save their lives”<\/p>\n

RELATED | Hegseth says first firing squad execution in decades will be made ‘public’<\/a><\/p>\n

\"For<\/p>\n

For those who marched, the hope is that their stories and message will lead to change. (CBS Austin\/Brenna Gibbons)<\/p>\n

For Graham, being freed hasn’t erased what he experienced.<\/p>\n

“How do you adjust to that,” Graham said. “How do you ever erase those memories? You’re forever scarred. And the only thing I can do is just try to live with it.”<\/p>\n

For those who marched, the hope is that their stories and message will lead to change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 People from across Texas are calling on the state government to abolish the death penalty.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462706,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-462705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462706"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462705"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}