ATHENS, Texas (AP) - A judge has determined a man on death row for a shootout that left two East Texas sheriff’s officers dead is competent to be executed.
Visiting State District Judge Joe Clayton of Tyler has made the ruling in the case of convicted killer Randall Wayne Mays.
The 58-year-old Mays was condemned for the May 2007 slaying of Henderson County sheriff’s deputy Tony Ogburn. A second officer, Paul Habelt, also was killed. The shootings occurred after Mays barricaded himself in his house in Payne Springs, about 55 miles southeast of Dallas.
Mays’ attorneys contended he’s mentally incompetent for execution.
In 2015 the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals gave Mays a reprieve two days before his scheduled execution and then ordered he undergo a mental health evaluation.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.