Wesley Ruiz is scheduled for execution in Texas on February 1, 2023 for the 2007 murder of Mark Nix.

The following comes from our friends at the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty:

The State of Texas is scheduled to execute Wesley Ruiz on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. Ruiz was convicted and sentenced to death for shooting Dallas police officer Mark Nix in 2007 after a car chase that ensued when Officer Nix attempted to stop Ruiz in his vehicle. Ruiz is deeply remorseful for his crime and has worked to better himself during his fourteen years on death row. He has maintained a close relationship with his sons, Wes Ruiz, Jr. and Eric Ruiz, and often provides them with guidance about life and relationships.

The Dallas County jurors that sentenced Ruiz to death in 2008 did not hear any information about the horrific life circumstances he endured as a child. Nor did they hear about his experiences with bad actors in the police department, who constantly surveilled him, harassed him, beat him, did not believe him when he was the victim of a crime, and withheld aid to a child in need of medical attention in front of him.

His trial attorneys, who harbored racially biased views of their client, failed to present any of this vital mitigating information, which could have provided jurors with an explanation as to Ruiz’s reasoning and impulse control during the offense for which he was convicted.

After hearing about Ruiz’s life circumstances from his current legal team, several of those jurors now say they would have given more weight towards sentencing Ruiz to life in prison without parole instead of the death penalty. Even the foreman of the jury, who used stereotypical, racist language to describe Ruiz, would support commutation of Ruiz’s death sentence.

Support clemency for Wesley Ruiz

Ruiz has filed an application with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles in which he seeks the commutation of his death sentence to a lesser penalty.

We’re asking you to email the members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles at bpp_clemency@tdcj.texas.gov to urge them to recommend clemency for Ruiz (you must include his TDCJ #999536 and DOB 11/20/1979 in your appeals). Share your concerns with Governor Greg Abbott.

Use the talking points below to craft your own email. Contact information for the Board and Governor is also below. Contact the Board by Friday, January 27, 2023.

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Texas' aggressive execution schedule marks it as an outlier in its use of the death penalty while the majority of other states are on a downward trend of executions. In the last few years, Texas has been one of only a handful of states that have carried out death sentences - and it continues to do so targeting the poor, the mentally ill and people of color.

Please sign the petition asking Governor Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to do everything within their power to stop this execution, including issuing a stay, and seeking a path to clemency in the case.

Additionally, you may reach out now to the Board at bpp_clemency@tdcj.texas.gov and the Governor at https://gov.texas.gov/contact/ and (512) 463-1782. You can simply leave a voice message, or choose to speak to a representative if you prefer.

Please note: In Texas, the Governor does have limited power when it comes to the death penalty. But the story we are told that "it's out of the governor's hands," is only true if we allow it to be. Yes, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles must recommend clemency in that state in order for the Governor to grant clemency (mercy) by commuting a death sentence. But the fact is that the governor appoints the members of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. He can choose to appoint members who will take valid claims and concerns more seriously, instead of acting like rubber-stamping gate-keepers. He can still use his position of power and influence to enact justice in the State of Texas.