The Texas Tribune spent nearly a year collecting data from the state’s largest cities on every incident in which police officers pulled the trigger between 2010 and 2015. Here’s a look at what we found.
Jolie McCullough
Jolie McCullough was a reporter at The Texas Tribune from 2015 to 2023. She began as a data visualization journalist and then reported on criminal justice policy, ranging from policing and courts to prisons and the death penalty. She joined the Tribune from the Albuquerque Journal, her hometown newspaper. She previously worked at the Arizona Republic and is a graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Posted inState Government
Execution Halted for Jeff Wood, Who Never Killed Anyone
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has halted the execution of Jeff Wood — a man who never killed anyone — six days before he was set to die by lethal injection.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Conservative Lawmaker Battling to Stop a Texas Execution
State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, a staunch conservative, is trying to stop the upcoming execution of Jeff Wood, who was sentenced to death even though he killed no one.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Texas Prepares to Execute A Man Who Killed No One
Jeff Wood was outside in a pickup when his partner killed a Kerrville convenience store clerk in 1996, but he was sentenced to death under Texas’ felony murder statute, commonly known as the law of parties.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Rally Questions Death Penalty for Texas Man Who Didn’t Pull Trigger
Relatives and supporters of death row inmate Jeff Wood rallied Saturday outside the Governor’s Mansion, saying that Wood should not be executed for capital murder under Texas’ law of parties.
Posted inState Government
Salaries Explorer Updates UT-Arlington, UTEP
We’ve updated the Tribune’s Government Salaries Explorer with fresh data for the University of Texas at Arlington, the University of Texas at El Paso and Tarrant County. We’ve also added Bexar County to the Salaries Explorer.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Execution Delayed After State Didn’t Retest Lethal Drugs
A Texas execution set for next week has been delayed indefinitely because the state wasn’t able to retest the purity of the lethal drugs in time.
Posted inState Government
Government Salaries Explorer Updates UT-Austin, Adds Bryan ISD
We’ve updated the Tribune’s Government Salaries Explorer with fresh data for The University of Texas at Austin, and we added a new school district — Bryan ISD.
Posted in
Criminal Justice
Former Officer Escapes Death Sentence in Police Chief’s Murder
After a five-day sentencing trial, David Risner, a former police officer, was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the shooting death of Little River-Academy Police Chief Lee Dixon.
Posted inPolitics
Updated: Comparing Nondiscrimination Protections in Texas Cities
The city of Mesquite earlier this week joined the short list of Texas cities that protect city employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. We’ve updated the Tribune’s comparison of nondiscrimination protections in the state.
