In case you thought her recent foray into advocating for the wrongfully convicted and unduly punished was just a hobby, Kim Kardashian West took to Instagram Friday to describe the feeling in the room when Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed found out his impending November 20 execution had been stayed and his case sent back to trial.
“Today, I had the honor of meeting #RodneyReed in person and the privilege of sitting with him when he got the news that the highest court in Texas had issued a stay of execution and remanded the case back to the trial court for further consideration,†she explained. “Words cannot describe the relief and hope that swept over the room in that moment.â€
Kardashian, currently in the process of becoming a lawyer in California, numbers among the many advocates for Reed, who was convicted of the 1996 rape and murder of Stacey Stites and has been on death row for 21 years. Rihanna, LL Cool J, and Meek Mill are just a few of the celebrity names added to a petition calling for Texas Governor Greg Abbott to halt the execution earlier this month.
Reed, who was having an affair with Stites at the time of her death, has maintained his innocence throughout his imprisonment. According to The Innocence Project, several people have come forward recently to offer new information about the case, which allegedly implicates Stites’s fiancé — local police officer Jimmy Fennell — in her murder. According to the New York Times, Fennell has denied the accusation.