Dad who stomped infant son’s head ‘like an eggshell’ is scheduled to be executed in September Travis James Mullis, 37, nodded his head in agreement as 122nd District Court Judge Jeth Jones set his execution date for September 24. Mullis, who has been on Texas Death Row for 13 years, was convicted in the brutal murder of his 3-month-old son Alijah Mullis in January of 2008. With all of his state and federal appeal efforts exhausted, Galveston County Prosecutor Kayla Allen set out Wednesday (5/22/2024) to have an execution date set for Mullis. Jones granted that request and ruled that Mullis should be executed on September 24 after 6 PM and before midnight. Few attended the 24-minute hearing. By comparison, when Mullis stood trial in 2011, the horrific nature of the murder drew international media attention and a crowded courtroom each day. This time, the only media in the courtroom were i45NOW and The Galveston County Daily News, joined by a handful of prosecutors, court staff, Allen, Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady, and Mullis with his federally appointed defense attorneys. Also in the courtroom was anti-death penalty advocate and Mullis “friend” Pat Hartwell Harper, who said she attended so Mullis would see “a friendly face.” “I don’t want Travis to die, but I know he wants to be executed,” Harper said. “He wants to see his son and apologize.” It was Jan. 29, 2008, when a couple walking along a berm of Seawall Blvd. found Alijah Mullis’ body face down in the grass, wearing only a diaper. An infant car seat was tossed nearby next to a tiny blue sock. The Galveston County Medical Examiner determined that the boy’s skull had been “shattered like an eggshell,” and there was evidence of either a boot or shoe print on the infant’s head. Mullis would later admit that he had taken a friend’s eight-year-old daughter to a park in Alvin to rape her. He confessed that Alijah would not stop crying, so he sexually assaulted the boy and then drove to Galveston. After he killed the infant, Mullis admitted to grabbing the boy by his legs and throwing him into the grassy area near the berm. Mullis then fled to the East Coast. The intense media coverage after the boy’s body was found prompted Alijah’s mother, Caren Kohberger, who was living with Mullis in a mobile home in Alvin, to call the medical examiner. Soon after, Mullis turned himself in and was arrested in Philadelphia. “The jury assessed the death penalty, and it’s time for their verdict to be carried out,” said Kayla Allen, First Assistant in Galveston County District Attorney Office. Mullis told his friend and anti-death penalty activist, Pat Hartwell Harper, that he accepted the death penalty and wanted to be able to apologize to his son in the afterlife. Hartwell Harper said she befriended Mullis 12 years ago when he wrote to her about wanting to commit suicide. Mullis’ case was Galveston County’s last death sentence trial and conviction. Assistant Federal Defender Peter Walker declined to comment. Among those attending Wednesday’s hearing was former District Court Judge John Ellisor. He was the judge who sentenced Mullis to death in 2011. Ellisor, who retired two years ago, said he had prayed with Mullis soon after the judge issued the death sentence and returned on Wednesday to do the same. Ellisor shared that Mullis has been involved with a Christian Outreach Group, and they discussed that experience.

Posted by i45NOW Joey at 2024-05-22 18:16:32 UTC