Execution Delayed for Death Row Inmate Who Cut Out His Eyes

HOUSTON—Next month’s scheduled execution of a Texas death row inmate, whose attorneys say gouged out both of his eyes—each a separate incident—because of severe mental illness, was delayed by a judge on Tuesday.
Andre Thomas had been set to be executed on April 5, sentenced to death for fatally stabbing in March 2004 his estranged wife Laura Christine Boren, 20, their 4-year-old son Andre Lee, and her 13-month-old daughter Leyha Marie Hughes, cutting out the hearts of the two children.
The killings of Boren and her children shocked Sherman, a city of about 45,000 residents 65 miles north of Dallas.
State District Judge Jim Fallon on Tuesday issued an order withdrawing the execution date. Fallon’s decision came after Thomas’ lawyers had requested additional time to prepare for a court hearing to review his competency….