Texas is entering 2026 with several high-profile death row cases continuing to move through the courts, even as the state has carried out a historically low number of executions, an Associated Press report said. The cases highlighted for 2026 include developments tied to appeals and stays involving Robert Roberson, David Wood and Brittany Holberg, alongside a schedule that still includes executions in coming months.
The report said 2025 was the second year that Texas was not the leading state in executions in a single year, though it remained the overall national leader in the death penalty. It noted that Harris County alone issued its 300th death sentence last year and accounts for more executions than any other state, even as the state’s execution pace has declined over the past decade.
According to the report, the low number of executions in 2025 was “in part fueled” by two last-minute stays. It said the outcomes of those stays, along with a third successful appeal for another death row inmate, may still result in executions later, depending on how further proceedings unfold.
Roberson and Wood both faced execution dates that were stayed after state courts granted appeals, the report said. In Holberg’s case, the report described that her capital conviction was overturned in March 2025 and that she was awaiting a hearing in January.
The report said all 17 judges of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals are scheduled to hear oral arguments in Louisiana on Jan. 21 in Holberg’s case. It said Holberg’s conviction was overturned in a 2-1 ruling that cited the district attorney’s failure to disclose that Holberg’s cellmate, who provided key testimony at trial, was a paid informant for the City of Amarillo police.
Holberg was 23 when she received the death penalty in 1998 after being convicted of murdering A.B. Towery, the report said. It said prosecutors claimed Holberg intended to kill and rob Towery, and it described testimony from her cellmate, Vickie Kirkpatrick, that the statement against Holberg included an account that Holberg admitted to purposefully killing Towery. The report added that Kirkpatrick was released on bond the same day she provided her statement, and it said two attorneys representing Holberg declined interview requests about the case.
The report said if the 5th Circuit rules in Holberg’s favor, the case would be sent back to the trial court for a rehearing. For Roberson, it said new evidence brought forth by state Rep. Lacey Hull, R-Houston, helped win Roberson’s second stay of execution and sent the case back to trial court. It also said a bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers blocked a previously scheduled execution in 2024 by issuing a subpoena for Roberson’s testimony for a legislative committee.
The report said Roberson’s conviction came in 2003 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki after she was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. Supporters, the report said, have argued that the science underlying that diagnosis is now-debunked.
It said Wood’s case was halted and remanded back to trial court in July after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay in March. The report said Wood had been accused of killing and burying six girls, ages 14 to 24, near El Paso in 1992, and that he was awaiting a rehearing after spending more than three decades on death row. It said Wood made eight claims in his appeal—ranging from allegations of false testimony to suppressed evidence—but that the court did not specify which of the eight claims were substantiated.
The report said Texas had four executions scheduled in the pipeline and that more could be scheduled throughout the year. It singled out Charles Thompson as scheduled to be executed Jan. 28 for shooting and killing two people during an argument in 1998.
The report also described outcomes for inmates who died in custody in 2025, saying that the number of death row inmates who died in custody was equal to the number who were executed. It said Micah Brown died by suicide, while James Harris Jr., William Mason, Joseph Prystash and Scott Panetti succumbed to medical conditions.
It said Panetti, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, died in June after spending 34 years on death row. The report said that during his 1995 trial, when he represented himself, Panetti attempted to subpoena John F. Kennedy and Jesus Christ, and that he was sentenced to death for capital murder in the deaths of his in-laws. It added that in 2007 Panetti’s appeals reached the Supreme Court, which reinforced rules related to execution ineligibility if a defendant does not understand the reason for execution, and that a federal district judge did not deem Panetti ineligible for execution until September 2023.
The report quoted Kristin Houlé Cuellar, executive director of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, saying, “I would say it is a natural part of being under a sentence of death that there is going to be an appeal.” It said Cuellar added: “I think the difference is what (appeals) would be considered active versus inactive.”
Cuellar also said Panetti’s lengthy appellate process amid his mental health struggles called into question the “relentless” nature of the state’s pursuit of execution, according to the report. She asked what the state is really achieving in its pursuit of execution for people who have been on death row for decades and are aging rapidly, and she said the question to her is “what is the point here, and what purpose is this actually serving?”