Texas | Twice convicted child murderer Carlos Don Stultz dies in prison

Carlos Don Stultz, 78, a twice convicted child murderer from Central Texas who’s been behind bars for more than half a century, died of natural causes Thursday at a prison in Tennessee Colony, Texas.

Stultz recently requested medical parole, arguing he was dying and wanted a last taste of freedom, drawing ire from Limestone County residents who said he did not deserve it.

He was convicted of murder in the brutal killing of 17-year-old Kathy Jones inside her home in Mexia, and before that, eleven-year-old Karen Kubat in Grand Prairie.

“Inmate Stultz lived a long life an apparently died of natural causes, something that his victims did not have the opportunity to do,” said Limestone County Attorney Roy DeFriend.

“While his passing brings me no pleasure, I am relieved that this chapter is finally closed for the Jones Family, who has had to endure more than 30 parole hearings.”

Stultz was one of the longest serving TDCJ inmates in Texas and had outlived most of the original prosecutors, investigators and family members of victims.

The child rapist and killer was supposed to get the death penalty, however, his sentence was commuted to life in prison following a Supreme Court decision in the 1970s.

Since his incarceration in 1969, Stultz had come up for parole about 30 times.

Source: KWTX news, Rissa Shaw, June 25, 2021

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