Latest Texas Execution: Man Scheduled For Death Wednesday

Raphael Holiday was scheduled to be executed Wednesday evening, and barring a late legal victory, was set to become the 13th person executed in Texas and the 26th nationwide this year.

Holiday was on death row for the death of three children in a house fire that he maintains he did not start.

A late bid for a stay of execution was denied by a federal appeals court last week, after a Texas attorney said his court-appointed attorneys had “abandoned him,” and the U.S. Supreme Court hasn’t said whether or not they will hear his final appeal.

He was scheduled to be executed Wednesday at 6 p.m. CT.

A Madison County home burned down in 2000, killing Holiday’s 1-year-old daughter and 5- and 7-year-old step daughters. He was found guilty of having started the fire, with evidence and testimony showing he went to his estranged wife’s home, doused it gasoline and set it ablaze, according to the Associated Press.

“I was at the house, the house blew up,” he told the AP from prison. “I don’t know how the fire started.”