Texas Man to Be Executed for Killing Infant Son

A Texas man is set to be executed Tuesday evening for the killing of his 3-month-old son more than 16 years ago.

Travis Mullis, 38, was given the death penalty for killing his son Alijah in January 2008.

Mullis has a long history of mental illness and has repeatedly waived his right to appeal his death sentence.

His execution by lethal injection was scheduled to take place at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.

Authorities say Mullis, aged 21, took his son from his home in Brazoria County and drove to nearby Galveston after fighting with his girlfriend.

Mullis parked his car and sexually assaulted his son.

The infant began to cry uncontrollably, and Mullis began strangling his son before taking him out of the car and stomping on his head.

The infant’s body was later found on the side of the road.

Mullis fled from Texas, but was later arrested after turning himself in to police in Philadelphia.

Mullis’ attorneys did not plan to file any final appeals to stay his lethal injection.

His lawyers did not file a clemency petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Mullis previously accepted responsibility for his son’s death and said “his punishment fits the crime,” in a letter submitted to U.S. District Judge George Hanks in Houston.

In the letter, Mullis said, “he seeks the same finality and justice the state seeks.”

Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady declined to comment ahead of Tuesday’s scheduled execution.

Prosecutors previously said at Mullis’ trial that he was a “monster” who manipulated people, was deceitful and refused the medical and psychiatric help he had been offered.

Since his 2011 conviction, Mullis has been at odds with his attorneys regarding whether to pursue an appeal.

At various points, he requested to waive his appeals, only to later reverse his decision.

During a June 2023 hearing, Shawn Nolan, one of Mullis’ attorneys, told the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that state courts in Texas had been wrong to rule Mullis was mentally competent when he waived his right to appeal a decade earlier.

Nolan highlighted that Mullis has suffered from “profound mental illness” since the age of 3, was a victim of childhood sexual abuse, and is “severely bipolar,” which has caused him to change his stance on appealing his case multiple times.

“The only hope Mr. Mullis had of avoiding execution was having competent counsel to assist the court in determining whether he was waiving his rights knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily, and that did not happen,” Nolan said.

However, Natalie Thompson, who was with the Texas Attorney General’s Office at the time, argued before the appeals court that Mullis fully understood his actions and was capable of going against his lawyers’ advice, “even if he’s suffering from mental illness.”

The appeals court ultimately upheld a 2021 ruling by Judge Hank, which found that Mullis had “repeatedly and competently chosen to waive review” of his death sentence.

While the U.S. Supreme Court has banned the death penalty for individuals with intellectual disabilities, it has not extended this prohibition to those with severe mental illness.

If carried out, Mullis would become the fourth person executed this year in Texas, the nation’s most active death penalty state, and the 15th in the U.S.

Five executions were scheduled across the U.S. this week, set for Friday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

“I hope we never get so used to executions that this number is ever normal,” Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told Newsweek. “It is an unusual number of executions to happen in this short a period of time.”

She added that there is no public pressure for increasing the number of completed death sentences.

“This is not coming from the general public,” Maher said. “We haven’t seen any evidence the pubic is eager for more executions or is frustrated with the pace.”

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press