Execution Report: John Hummel

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A jury found Hummel guilty of the capital murder of Clyde Bedford and Joy Hummel in June 2011 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence in November 2013. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied. His lawyer did not file any last-minute appeals on his behalf, saying that all available legal avenues had been exhausted.

Hummel did not talk about his crime or imprisonment to reporters during his ten years on Death Row.

Hummel had previously been scheduled for execution on 18 March 2020. That date with death was postponed because of government and business shutdowns and other issues related to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Hummel was the first of several Texas Death Row prisoners to receive stays of execution because of the pandemic. Following an execution in July 2020, Texas executions were unofficially put on hiatus. That ended with the execution of Quintin Jones in May 2021.

Because of a procedural oversight, reporters were not admitted to witness Jones's execution last month. For Hummel's execution, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice announced that additional training and procedures were in place to ensure that this mistake did not happen again, including having a staff member whose only job is to make sure that all of the correct steps are being followed.

At his execution, the warden asked Hummel if he had a last statement. "Yes," he replied. "When they lay me down to sleep, for I am to die for justice, the Lord my soul to take. I'll be with Jesus when I awake. I truly regret killing my family. I am thankful for all the thoughts and prayers for my family over the last few days. I love each and every one of you.”

The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:49 p.m.

Clyde Bedford's brother, Cecil Bedford, who described himself as "old school," said afterward that Hummel's execution was "too easy" and that he would have preferred a more severe method, such as hanging or a firing squad.

His sister, Cylinda Bedford, said that the house had been in their family for generations. Her father was born and raised in it, and she and her siblings were also raised in it. It was uninhabitable after the fire and was subsequently demolished. Her family sold the land, and nothing has since been rebuilt on the lot.

Cylinda said Hummel had to be "some kind of monster" to kill his own child, but she still did not understand why he did it. "I don't have no closure. And him being put to death is not going to be closure either, because then we'll never know why."

By David Carson. Posted on 1 July 2021.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Huntsville Item.