As the state of Texas prepares for the execution of Garcia White, a man with connections to a quintet of homicides, details of the case come into sharper focus. Convicted of the 1989 murders of twin teenagers Annette and Bernette Edwards and their mother Bonita, White is scheduled to receive a lethal injection this evening. According to reporting by the Texas Tribune, White, age 61, was also associated with the deaths of Greta Williams and Hai Van Pham, the latter of whom was a convenience store owner killed during a robbery in 1995.

The killings of the Edwards family went unresolved for nearly six years, and in a subsequent interview regarding Pham’s death, White’s acquaintance disclosed his confessions; this break in the case ultimately led to his conviction. The Texas Tribune records that White later admitted to the police his involvement, and following a failed attempt to pin the crime on another, White confessed to all three of the Edwards killings. Shedding light on the proceedings of the sentencing phase, Joshua Reiss from the Harris County district attorney’s office said, "This is the type of case for which the death penalty is appropriate."

Despite multiple unsuccessful appeals, White's defense cited new DNA evidence suggesting another person's presence at the crime scene and presented arguments based on White's purported intellectual disability and the potential impact of heavy cocaine use during the crimes, as per the CBS News. These claims have been at the heart of appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles declined a request to commute his sentence.

The pending execution has refocused attention on the victims and their families, such as Hai Van Pham's, whose son, Hiep Tuan Pham, expressed the enduring impact of White's actions telling the Texas Tribune, "I just hope that he knows that because of all of this, we have suffered for a very long time." Responding to the defense’s arguments, the Texas Attorney General's Office countered that the state had appropriately addressed White's claims and there was no reason to delay the execution, as they sought closure for the families of the victims. If he does not win a stay of execution, White's death will mark the fifth in Texas this year and the 19th in the United States, as reported by CBS News.