25-year-old Haley Marie Vazquez was last seen Thursday in the 3400 block of East Vickery Boulevard, police said.
Fort Worth Police Department
Fort Worth police are asking for the public’s help locating a missing 25-year-old woman, according to a post on social media Thursday evening.
The woman, Haley Marie Vazquez, was last seen in the 3400 block of East Vickery Boulevard at 2 p.m. Thursday, police said.
Vazquez is five foot two inches tall, weighs 150 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes. She was last seen carrying two backpacks and a stuffed animal, and wearing a pink jacket, black pants and white shoes.
Vazquez has an intellectual disability and her family fears she may be lost or in danger, police said.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Fort Worth Police Department at 817-392-4222.
Lillie Davidson is a breaking news reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She graduated from TCU in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, is fluent in Spanish, and can complete a crossword in five minutes.
A Texas man faces execution Thursday for killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter during a torturous ordeal the couple said was part of an “exorcism” to expel a demon from the child’s body.Blaine Milam, 35, was condemned for the December 2008 murder of Amora Carson at his trailer in Rusk County in East Texas.Milam was scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. At around the same time Milam was to be put to death, authorities in Alabama were planning to execute Geoffrey West for fatally shooting a gas station employee during a 1997 robbery.Milam has claimed he is innocent, blaming then-girlfriend Jesseca Carson for the killing and alleging she was the one who claimed the girl was possessed by a demon. She was tried separately from Milam and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of capital murder for helping Milam. Both were 18 at the time.Prosecutors said Milam savagely beat the girl with a hammer and also bit, strangled, and mutilated her over a period of 30 hours.A forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy found the child had multiple skull fractures along with broken arms, legs, ribs and numerous bite marks. The pathologist testified at trial that he could not determine a specific cause of death because the girl had so many potentially fatal injuries.Milam’s attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution, arguing his conviction was based in part on “now-discredited” bite mark evidence as well as other unreliable DNA evidence. Milam’s attorneys also argued he is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution.In their petition to the Supreme Court, Milam’s lawyers alleged Carson had experienced religious delusions and suffered from a neurological visual-perception disorder that caused her to see malevolent-seeming distortions in her daughter’s face, causing her to attack the child.“It was Carson who caused her daughter’s death. There is no credible evidence that Milam played any role in it,” Milam’s lawyers said.State and federal appeals courts have previously turned down efforts by Milam’s attorneys to stay his execution. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday denied Milam’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty. Milam previously had executions dates in 2019 and 2021 that were stayed.The Texas Attorney General’s Office has said Milam’s claims that he is intellectually disabled have been rejected in previous court rulings and a recent review of DNA evidence used at his trial “continues to forensically tie him to Amora’s body.”The attorney general’s office also said in court documents that even if bitemark and DNA evidence were excluded, there was other evidence pointing to his guilt, including his efforts to hide evidence and a confession he made to a nurse after his arrest.Rusk County District Attorney Michael Jimerson, who tried the case along with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, told The Associated Press in 2019 that authorities initially treated Milam and Carson as grieving parents.But Carson later told investigators Milam told her Amora was “possessed by a demon” because “God was tired of her lying to Milam,” according to court records.The use of bite mark evidence has been called into question in recent years, with a 2016 report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology saying bitemark analysis “is clearly scientifically unreliable at present.”Jimerson said he still couldn’t pinpoint a motive, believing the exorcism claim was just a way for Milam and Carson to cover up their crime.“It’s … very hard to confront the idea that someone would derive their gratification from the torture of a baby. That is really something that diminishes all of us and it’s just a very, very hard thing to face,” Jimerson had said.If the execution is carried out, Milam would be the fifth person put to death this year in Texas, historically the nation’s busiest capital punishment state. If both of Thursdays executions take place, that would bring this year’s total to 33 death sentences carried out nationwide. Florida leads the nation this year with a record 12 executions conducted so far in 2025 with two more scheduled in the state by mid-October.
HOUSTON —
A Texas man faces execution Thursday for killing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old daughter during a torturous ordeal the couple said was part of an “exorcism” to expel a demon from the child’s body.
Blaine Milam, 35, was condemned for the December 2008 murder of Amora Carson at his trailer in Rusk County in East Texas.
Milam was scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. At around the same time Milam was to be put to death, authorities in Alabama were planning to execute Geoffrey West for fatally shooting a gas station employee during a 1997 robbery.
Milam has claimed he is innocent, blaming then-girlfriend Jesseca Carson for the killing and alleging she was the one who claimed the girl was possessed by a demon. She was tried separately from Milam and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of capital murder for helping Milam. Both were 18 at the time.
Prosecutors said Milam savagely beat the girl with a hammer and also bit, strangled, and mutilated her over a period of 30 hours.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP
This undated booking photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Texas death row inmate Blaine Milam.
A forensic pathologist who performed an autopsy found the child had multiple skull fractures along with broken arms, legs, ribs and numerous bite marks. The pathologist testified at trial that he could not determine a specific cause of death because the girl had so many potentially fatal injuries.
Milam’s attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop his execution, arguing his conviction was based in part on “now-discredited” bite mark evidence as well as other unreliable DNA evidence. Milam’s attorneys also argued he is intellectually disabled and therefore ineligible for execution.
In their petition to the Supreme Court, Milam’s lawyers alleged Carson had experienced religious delusions and suffered from a neurological visual-perception disorder that caused her to see malevolent-seeming distortions in her daughter’s face, causing her to attack the child.
“It was Carson who caused her daughter’s death. There is no credible evidence that Milam played any role in it,” Milam’s lawyers said.
State and federal appeals courts have previously turned down efforts by Milam’s attorneys to stay his execution. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday denied Milam’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty. Milam previously had executions dates in 2019 and 2021 that were stayed.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office has said Milam’s claims that he is intellectually disabled have been rejected in previous court rulings and a recent review of DNA evidence used at his trial “continues to forensically tie him to Amora’s body.”
The attorney general’s office also said in court documents that even if bitemark and DNA evidence were excluded, there was other evidence pointing to his guilt, including his efforts to hide evidence and a confession he made to a nurse after his arrest.
Rusk County District Attorney Michael Jimerson, who tried the case along with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, told The Associated Press in 2019 that authorities initially treated Milam and Carson as grieving parents.
But Carson later told investigators Milam told her Amora was “possessed by a demon” because “God was tired of her lying to Milam,” according to court records.
The use of bite mark evidence has been called into question in recent years, with a 2016 report by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology saying bitemark analysis “is clearly scientifically unreliable at present.”
Jimerson said he still couldn’t pinpoint a motive, believing the exorcism claim was just a way for Milam and Carson to cover up their crime.
“It’s … very hard to confront the idea that someone would derive their gratification from the torture of a baby. That is really something that diminishes all of us and it’s just a very, very hard thing to face,” Jimerson had said.
If the execution is carried out, Milam would be the fifth person put to death this year in Texas, historically the nation’s busiest capital punishment state. If both of Thursdays executions take place, that would bring this year’s total to 33 death sentences carried out nationwide. Florida leads the nation this year with a record 12 executions conducted so far in 2025 with two more scheduled in the state by mid-October.
GEORGIA – On Wednesday, the state of Georgia carried out the execution of Willie Pye, a man on death row found guilty of murdering Alicia Lynn Yarbrough in 1993.
Executed by lethal injection at 11:03 p.m. in a Jackson prison, located approximately 50 miles south of Atlanta, as announced by the Georgia Department of Corrections in a press release, Pye refrained from issuing a last statement, as per the announcement.
Pye, aged 59, faced execution following the rejection of his ultimate legal challenges by the US Supreme Court late on Wednesday. Pye and his legal team had previously submitted requests for clemency and various legal documents, arguing against his execution on the grounds of an intellectual disability, a difficult childhood, and the ineffectiveness of his legal representation.
January 1997: The Louisiana State Penitentiary’s execution chamber utilized this gurney for lethal injections. (Image courtesy of Shepard Sherbell/Corbis via Getty Images) RELATED ARTICLE Opinion: Witnessing an execution led to regret, but now my perspective has shifted.
This event marks the first execution in Georgia since January 2020, as noted by the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit organization. The pause in executions was attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic by the American Bar Association.
In 1996, Pye was convicted for the murder of Yarbrough, alongside charges of kidnapping causing bodily harm, armed theft, burglary, and rape, stemming from a tumultuous romantic relationship with the victim, as indicated by court documents.
Leading up to the execution, a series of urgent legal appeals were made, a common scenario in capital punishment cases, including two appeals to the US Supreme Court, which were eventually dismissed.
In one appeal, Pye contended that his execution should be halted due to a pandemic-related agreement between the Georgia Attorney General’s Office and lawyers for the defense, which temporarily suspended executions in the state until certain criteria were met.
His legal team argued that excluding him from this agreement unfairly discriminated against him, breaching the 14th Amendment’s equal protection and due process clauses. However, the state contested Pye’s appeal, pointing to a state court’s finding that he was not a party to the agreement.
Pye’s second appeal was based on his claim of having an intellectual disability, arguing that executing someone with such a disability is unconstitutional. Yet, Georgia’s standard requires proof of intellectual disability beyond a reasonable doubt—a threshold Pye’s lawyers deemed excessively stringent and unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court chose not to stop Pye’s execution without providing an explanation, a common practice in emergency appeals, with no dissenting opinions noted.
The Murder of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough
Willie James Pye was convicted of murder & other crimes in 1993 killing of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough. He’s set to be executed Wed. night. 75 men & 1 woman have been executed in Georgia since 1976. If executed, Pye will be 54th inmate put to death by lethal injection. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/627efSrhBQ
Pye and two associates planned to rob a man who was living with Yarbrough, driven by Pye’s anger towards the man for signing the birth certificate of a child Pye claimed as his. Prior to the crime, Pye acquired a .22 caliber pistol, and the trio, disguised with ski masks, approached the man’s residence, finding Yarbrough alone with the baby.
After forcibly entering the home and holding Yarbrough at gunpoint, Pye and his accomplices robbed her of a ring and necklace, then kidnapped her to a motel where they raped her. Later, they took Yarbrough to a secluded dirt road, where Pye commanded her to lie face down before shooting her three times, as detailed in court documents.
One of Pye’s associates later confessed and provided testimony against him, with DNA evidence from the victim’s body matching Pye.
The jury in Pye’s case recommended the death penalty, leading to his sentence of death along with three life sentences plus 20 years, according to the Georgia Attorney General’s Office.
Both of Pye’s accomplices are currently serving life sentences for their involvement in Yarbrough’s murder, as per records from the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Inmate Argued Trial Lawyer ‘Abandoned His Post’
Pye’s petition for clemency argued for his sentence to be reduced to life imprisonment, highlighting the ineffectiveness of his trial attorney, who passed away in 2000.
Three jurors from Pye’s trial expressed opposition to his execution, citing factors about his background that his public defender, described as overwhelmed and ineffective in the clemency petition, failed to present.
“three of Willie Pye’s jurors are now opposed to his execution, citing factors in the inmate’s background that were not presented by what his clemency petition says was an overworked and ineffective public defender.” https://t.co/7ceXmYv5w0
Despite these arguments, the state parole board denied clemency after a meeting on Tuesday, stating that it had “thoroughly considered all of the facts and circumstances of the case” in its decision, as mentioned in a press release.
At the time, Pye’s attorney was single-handedly managing all indigent defense services in Spalding County, Georgia, under a lump-sum contract, the petition noted. With only one other attorney and an investigator, he was juggling hundreds of felony cases alongside his private practice, including representing clients in four other capital cases simultaneously. This workload led to the attorney “effectively abandoning his post.”
An appeals court has ruled the state of Alabama cannot execute man with an intellectual disability who was sentenced to death for murdering a man in 1997, upholding a lower court’s decision.
The US Eleventh Court of Appeals’ decision on Friday means that 53-year-old Joseph Clifton Smith cannot be executed unless the decision is overturned by the US Supreme Court.
In a statement released after the appeals court decision, Amanda Priest, communications director for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, said, “Smith’s IQ scores have consistently placed his IQ above that of someone who is intellectually disabled. The Attorney General thinks his death sentence was both just and constitutional.”
“The Attorney General disagrees with the Eleventh Circuit’s ruling, and will seek review from the United States Supreme Court,” the statement concluded
In 2021, a US District Court judge ruled that due to his intellectual disability, Smith could not “constitutionally be executed,” and vacated his death sentence.
The judge referenced the district court’s finding that Smith’s “intellectual and adaptive functioning issues clearly arose before he was 18 years of age,” according to the 2021 appeals court ruling, which agreed with the lower court.
Smith confessed to murdering Durk Van Dam, whose body was found “in an isolated area near his pick-up truck” in Mobile County in southwest Alabama, according to the court’s Friday ruling. Smith “offered two conflicting versions of the crime,” the ruling says – first admitting he watched Van Dam’s murder and then saying he participated but didn’t intend to kill the man.
The case went to trial and the jury found Smith guilty, the order states. During his sentencing proceedings, Smith’s mother and sister testified that his father was “an abusive alcoholic,” according to the ruling.
Smith had struggled in school since as early as the first grade, the order says, which led to his teacher labeling him as an “underachiever” before he underwent an “intellectual evaluation,” which gave him an IQ score of 75, the court said. When he was in fourth grade, Smith was tested again and placed in a learning-disability class – at the same time as his parents were going through a divorce, the court said.
“After that placement, Smith developed an unpredictable temper and often fought with classmates. His behavior became so troublesome that his school placed him in an ‘emotionally conflicted classroom,’” the ruling states.
Smith then failed the seventh and eighth grades before dropping out of school entirely, the ruling says, and he then spent “much of the next fifteen years in prison” for burglary and receiving stolen property.
One of the witnesses in Smith’s evidentiary hearing held by the district court to determine whether he has an intellectual disability was Dr. Daniel Reschly, a certified school psychologist, the ruling says.
The court ultimately determined that Smith “has significant deficits in social/interpersonal skills, self-direction, independent home living, and functional academics,” the ruling says.
In its conclusion, the appeals court wrote: “We hold that the district court did not clearly err in finding that Smith is intellectually disabled and, as a result, that his sentence violates the Eighth Amendment. Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s judgment vacating Smith’s death sentence.”
“This case is an example of why process is so important in habeas cases and why we should not rush to enforce death sentences—the only form of punishment that can’t be undone,” the office of Smith’s federal public defender said in a statement after the appeals court decision.
“Originally, this same District Court denied Mr. Smith the opportunity to be heard, and it was an Eleventh Circuit decision that allowed a hearing that created this avenue for relief,” the statement said.
A family’s story chronicled in the 2017 Academy Award-nominated documentary, “Life Animated”
Press Release –
updated: Apr 24, 2017
Austin, Texas, April 24, 2017 (Newswire.com)
– On April 27, Marbridge will host the fifth annual CoAct Project™, a national executive symposium to discuss best care practices, industry challenges, and building relationships to better care for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Best-selling author Ron Suskind and his autistic son, Owen, will serve as keynote speakers; they are the subject of this year’s Academy Award-nominated documentary Life, Animated. Together, they will share their astonishing story of how Owen, following a diagnosis of regressive autism at 3 years old, slowly learned language and emotional dynamics by studying animated Disney movies. And how, through a series of startling breakthroughs, the family began to communicate with their lost son in movie dialogue.
April is Autism Awareness Month. We now know that Autism affects one in every 68 children in the United States. We are eager to learn more from Mr. Suskind, and to explore the unknown capacities of the human mind. It is an honor to have Ron speaking at the CoAct Project this year, and to consider the impact this knowledge could have on so many individuals, their families and caregivers.
Scott McAvoy, Vice President of Operations
“Autism now affects one in every 68 children in the United States[i]. Currently at Marbridge, the autism diagnosis represents 25% of our resident population. We are eager to learn more from Mr. Suskind, and to explore the unknown capacities of the human mind,” states Scott McAvoy, Vice President of Operations at Marbridge. “It is an honor to have Ron speaking at the CoAct Project this year, and to consider the impact this knowledge could have on so many individuals, their families and caregivers.”
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication, as well as by unique strengths and differences. There is not one autism but many types, caused by different combinations of genetic and environmental influences.
Autism occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, but is almost five times more common among boys than among girls.[ii]
April is Autism Awareness Month
This year will serve as the 5th annual symposium of its kind at Marbridge, bringing together leadership, organizations and professionals in the field of intellectual disability, including Autism, Down Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, seizure disorder and traumatic brain injury. “In our conversations with industry partners, it is apparent that there are a host of topics and concerns we share,” said James Stacey, President of Marbridge. “In 2013, we decided it was time to establish a forum where we could discuss our commonalities and share best practices. We are committed to this collaboration moving forward, and to enhancing the lives of individuals with special needs.”
ABOUT MARBRIDGE
Founded in 1953, Marbridge is a non-profit residential community for adults with intellectual disabilities (www.marbridge.org). Located on 170 acres in south Austin, Texas, the campus consists of three interconnected communities providing varying levels of care—from semi-independent care, to assisted living, to skilled nursing and physical rehabilitation services. With over 250 residents, the population represents a diversity of diagnoses, including Autism, Down Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, seizure disorder and traumatic brain injury. With the unique Life Options Program, Marbridge provides a distinctly different lifestyle that ensures that each individual has the opportunity to learn, experience and achieve a whole new life at Marbridge.
Contact: Scott McAvoy, Vice President of Operations, Marbridge Foundation
[i] In 2016, the Centers for Disease Control’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) reported that approximately 1 in 68 children in the United States has been identified with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This rate remains the same as in 2014, which is the first time it has not risen.
[ii] On March 27, 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data on the prevalence of autism in the United States. This surveillance study identified 1 in 68 children (1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls) as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
