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Rodney Reed was convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Stacey Stites on May 18, 1998. Two years prior to the conviction, on April 23, 1996, the teen's body was found along a road in Bastrop, Texas. She was beaten and strangled to death with a belt.
Trigger warning: This article contains mentions of murder. Discretion is advised.
However, more than 20 years later, the conviction remains controversial as Rodney continues to claim his innocence. Although Rodney, who was 28 in 1998, was convicted of the murder, investigators were unable to establish his direct involvement in the murder. In fact, the belt used to strangle Stacey wasn't even tested for DNA.
Rodney initially denied any involvement in Stacey's murder. However, when investigators found DNA on her body, he admitted to having been in a consensual relationship with her. He said that the two had kept their relationship a secret since Stacey was already engaged to someone else.
Following a trial nearly two years after Stacey's death, Reed was convicted and received the death penalty. However, the death penalty was rescheduled a few times and he is still incarcerated at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Texas.
As mentioned earlier, investigators were unable to produce any solid evidence linking Reed to the case, and for more than two decades, he has proclaimed his innocence. Owing to all this, several people believe Rodney's side of the story and even celebrities like Rihanna and Kim Kardashian have shown him their support.
The shocking murder was explored in Investigation Discovery's true-crime series People Magazine Investigates. The episode titled Is Rodney Reed Innocent? aired on February 10.
Here's a short synopsis of the episode:
"A Texas woman is r*ped and murdered; a trial sparks a racially charged debate over whether an innocent man was condemned to death; new evidence comes to light; the truth about who killed Stacy Stites."
Rodney Reed and Stacey Stites were supposedly in a secret consensual relationship
Stacey Stites, 19, was just weeks from getting married when she went missing in April 1996. She was reported missing when she failed to show up for work, and just hours after this, her body was found near the side of a road in Bastrop, Texas.
Why was Rodney zeroed in on?
Seven months after Stacey Stites was killed, another 19-year-old was attacked in a similar manner. However, unlike Stites, she managed to escape and directed the police to Reed.
Since Rodney Reed was a regular offender, police already had his DNA on record, and soon they linked him to Stacey's death as well. Additionally, it is also believed that race also played a part in Reed's conviction as he was a black man while Stacey was a white woman.
Rodney was allegedly involved in the r*pe of a 12-year-old
Although Reed has claimed his innocence in Stacey's case, he was allegedly involved in the r*pe of two others - a 12-year-old girl and a woman with intellectual disabilities. As mentioned earlier, he had some criminal charges against him and encounters with law enforcement.
Stacey's family denied her relationship with Reed
After Reed's DNA was found on Stacey's body, he claimed it was because he was in a consensual relationship with her. He also added that he did not want to mention it before Stacey wanted to keep the relationship a secret as she was about to get married in a few weeks.
However, Stacey's family denied the claims and said that she could never have a relationship with Reed as she was engaged to be married. They insisted that Rodney had r*ped her before killing her.
Stacey's sister, Debra Oliver even said:
“There has never been any evidence whatsoever that there was any type of relationship."
Reed received support from various celebrities
Celebrities across the country supported Reed. Other than Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, other celebrities who supported him include Beyoncé, Meek Mill, Pusha T, Susan Sarandon, Seth Green, and Oprah Winfrey.
Reed's supporters have also created various platforms to show their solidarity with him.
The belt used to strangle Stacey was never tested for DNA
When Stacey's body was found, she was barely covered and only in her jeans and her black bra. The belt used to strangle her was found at the crime scene but it was never tested for DNA.
This is something that a lot of Reed's supporters use as a way to say that the case against Reed was unfair.
The story was explored in Investigation Discovery's true-crime series People Magazine Investigates on February 10, 2023.
