31 January 2018 :

William Earl Rayford, 64, Black, was executed. He was sent to Texas' death row after he strangled when he was out on parole for the murder of his ex-wife 13 years earlier under similar circumstances. William was convicted in December 2000 and sentenced to death in Dallas County in January 2001 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Carol Hall, 44, on November 16, 1999. Hall's 11-year-old son also was beaten and stabbed as he tried to stop the attack but survived and testified against Rayford. DNA evidence showed that Carol’s blood was on Rayford’s clothing and skin when he was arrested. William had previously been arrested and served a sentence for the murder of his estranged wife, Gail Rayford, in 1986. The murder netted him a 23-year sentence, but he was released in 1994 on mandatory supervision after serving one-third of his sentence under a law that was later changed. Rayford was the 2nd prisoner put to death this year in Texas, the 547th since the state resumed executions in 1982, the 2nd prisoner put to death this year in the U.S., and the 1,467th in the United States since USA resumed executions in 1977.