At noon today, the formal process began where Mr. Swearingen will likely be moved over to the area before his last walk to the execution chamber.
For the next few hours, the Trotter family will have the opportunity to speak with the warden and they will be briefed on this afternoon’s timeline. The Trotter family will be accompanied by the warden and several Texas Rangers, along with Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Blackburn.
At approx 6 p.m., the three-drug dose will be administered to Larry Swearingen, barring any last-minute appeals to the US Supreme Court.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied Swearingen’s latest appeal, stating:
“Larry Ray Swearingen, convicted nineteen years ago of capital murder for strangling nineteen-year-old Melissa Trotter, seeks permission to file a fourth federal habeas corpus petition. He also moves to stay, for the fifth time, his execution date, scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, August 21, 2019. Finding Swearingen’s claims fail to meet the strict requirements imposed by 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b) for authorizing a successive petition, we DENY his application and also DENY his motion for stay of execution.”
