March 5, 2015: The state of Texas intended to kill Rodney Reed today, but his family, his lawyers, a vibrant defense campaign, and Rodney himself fought hard to make sure that didn’t happen. We still have a big fight ahead of us, but today we celebrate our victory.

Yesterday, TWC News reporter Alex Stockwell interviewed Rodney in the visitation room of the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas. Click here for a video of Rodney talking about the stay and how he’s dealt with coming so close to being executed.

“I really don’t try to entertain death because once you get consumed with something like that, it takes away from you. I just don’t try to entertain anything like that,” Reed said. “For the time being everyone has a date, and I’ve been here almost, right at 18 years. I’m kind of numb to how to ride this roller coaster.”

As Alex reminds us, March 5 was not Rodney’s first scheduled execution and it may not be his last.

Reed says he’s hopeful that there will be a DNA evidence hearing, and that this time around, that evidence will work out in his favor.

“Because of the way the system is structured, you have to prove the alternative suspect,” Reed said. “I’m very optimistic that if the courts are willing to acknowledge this evidence that we have, because this evidence is not made up. If they’re willing to acknowledge it, I feel like they will give me the better judgment on this.”

Rodney remains hopeful and we do too! We’ll keep fighting until he’s free.

(Alex also reported on our Valentine’s Day action for Rodney. You can watch that video here.)