HENDERSON COUNTY–Randall Mays, 64 who was convicted to death in the killing of Henderson County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Tony Ogburn and Paul Habelt in 2008, was removed from death row March 27, by a Texas Appeals Court.   
Mays sentence was reformed to life in prison without the possibility of parole, after the court applied a current legal definition of intellectual disability.
“We agree that Applicant meets the diagnostic criteria for intellectual disability under Atkins and Moore. Moore v. Texas, 137 S. Ct. 1039, 1044 (2017); Moore v. Texas, 139 S. Ct. 666 (2019). Based upon the trial court’s findings and conclusions and our own review, we grant relief by reforming Applicant’s sentence of death to a sentence of life imprisonment without parole,” stated the court during its ruling.  
Henderson County District Attorney Jenny Palmer told The Monitor in a statement, “The diagnostic criteria defining intellectual disability was changed long after Randall Mays was sentenced to death. Unfortunately, they are nevertheless now applied to him and he is considered to meet the current definition of being intellectually disabled, which exempts him from the death penalty. While we do not agree with the change in criteria, nor the Court’s application of it, we understand the Court’s ruling and are deeply disappointed that Randall Mays will be taken off death row 14 years after he was sentenced.”
Palmer continued, “We stand forever faithful in our support of the Habelt and Ogburn families and our law enforcement family who must life with the effects of the horrible acts committed by Randall Mays on that day. While the justice they deserve, and Randall Mays has earned is now not an option, we gain small comfort in being able to say with confidence that Randall Mays will die in prison.”