HOUSTON – The family of Juan Balderas, along with the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, held a press conference Monday to announce “Making an Exoneree: Juan Balderas” and launched a renewed campaign to exonerate Balderas from Texas death row, according to a release.
The press conference was held at 11 a.m. outside the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Balderas has been on death row since he was sentenced in 2014 but was jailed for almost nine years at Harris County Jail before his trial, according to the release. Balderas has always maintained his innocence. With the help of the Making an Exoneree program, the campaign to prove his innocence and win exoneration launched Monday.
A select number of Discovery, Inc. employees have volunteered their time to help put together the renewed campaign, which includes a redesigned website, an online petition, new and improved social media channels, according to the release.
“This injustice began in 2005, seventeen years ago. But Juan’s family will not stop fighting until Juan is declared innocent and freed from death row,” said Balderas’ wife, Yancy Escobar Balderas.
Texas is receiving negative attention over the case of Melissa Lucio, the only Latina on death row, according to the release.
READ: Only Latina on Texas death row seeks clemency as execution looms, NBC News reports
“It is now time to end the death penalty before any more innocent people are murdered by the state,” Yancy Balderas said.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office released the following statement:
A jury of his peers found Juan Balderas to be a continuing threat to society. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office agrees with both the jury’s conclusion and the integrity of his conviction.
Balderas was a member of the La Tercera Crips street gang. In addition to the gang-related capital murder of Eduardo Hernandez, Balderas was linked to dozens of offenses and bad acts, including four capital murders, four aggravated assaults, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, and arson.
A District Court Judge found the evidence against Balderas to be “overwhelming and compelling.”