As Rodney Reed fights death sentence in 1996 murder, man who defense claims is the real killer takes stand

Lawyers for Rodney Reed, a Black man who maintains he was wrongfully convicted in the 1996 murder of a White woman, called a man they claim is the victim's real killer to testify during an evidence hearing on Thursday. 

Reed has spent decades on death row after he was sentenced to die in the murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites in Bastrop, Texas, but the state's highest court issued a stay days before his scheduled execution in November of 2019. As his execution date loomed, the case gained national attention. Nearly 3 million people signed a petition urging clemency and high-profile figures such as Kim Kardashian West, Rihanna, Beyonce, Meek Mill and Oprah voiced support for Reed.  The Court of Criminal Appeals remanded the case back to the trial court to weigh whether Reed deserves a new trial.