Andre Thomas undergoes evaulation after self-mutilation incident
By JERRIE WHITELEY
Herald Democrat
Andre Thomas’ attorneys say he will now get the mental health treatment they have begged for since he arrived on Texas’ Death Row in 2005.
Bobbie Peterson-Cate represented Thomas when Grayson County jurors convicted him of killing and cutting the heart out of 13-month-old Leyha Marie Hughes, March 27, 2004. State authorities put Thomas in a prison psychiatric treatment unit after he pulled out his left eye and ate it on Dec. 9.
This self-inflicted injury left Thomas blind since he had pulled out his right eye while awaiting trial in the Grayson County Jail in 2004. Although not convicted in their deaths, Thomas confessed to killing and mutilating the bodies of his estranged wife Laura Boren Thomas and their 4-year-old son Andre Boren the same day he killed baby Leyha.
“He is (now) in the Jester Unit where he will finally be able to receive the mental health care that we had wanted and begged for from day 1,” Peterson-Cate said when asked to comment on Thomas’ most recent attempt to harm himself.
When asked if she knew why Thomas would do such a thing to himself a second time, Peterson-Cate said, “He is insane and mentally ill. It is exactly the same reason he pulled out the last one.”
Peterson-Cate and R.J. Hagood argued that Thomas’ mental illness was the mitigating element that caused him to kill and mutilate his three victims. Thomas was sent to a state mental hospital after he pulled out his eye at the Grayson County Jail and ruled to be insane. He was medicated and returned to Grayson County. Retired Judge James Fry then judged Thomas competent to stand trial.
Thomas confessed to those crimes after walking into the Sherman Police Department on the day of the killings. Testimony at the trial revealed that Thomas thought the three were possessed by the devil and he had orders from God to kill them.
Grayson County District Attorney Joe Brown said Thursday that he was surprised to hear about Thomas’ action.
“It is too early to tell how this will affect his appeal. We will be gathering the records from the prison system and the recent psychological records and will evaluate them,” Brown said.
Jason Clark, public information officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said that prison officials discovered Thomas’ most recent injury just after noon Dec. 9.
“An officer on death row was conducting a security check on 10 building when he observed what appeared to be blood on the face of (Thomas),” Clark said.
He said Thomas told officials he had pulled out his eye and eaten it.
“The attending physician determined that (Thomas) needed further medical treatment. At (1:55 p.m.), Thomas was taken by security staff to East Texas Medical Center in Tyler. After being treated by the ETMC medical staff, he was transported to the Jester 4 Psychiatric Unit in Richmond where he remains at this time.”
Clark confirmed that the eye injury is not the first self-inflicted wound Thomas has suffered during his stay on Death Row.
Clark said that on July 14, Thomas cut his neck with a razor.
“The 1.5 inch-long laceration required 8 sutures,” Clark said.
He said Thomas’ records also indicate that on Nov. 21, officers attempted to return a mattress to Thomas and he managed “to free himself from hand restraints and run to a nearby cell where he attempted to assault another offender. When officers attempted to stop Thomas he did not comply and became physical with the officers. A chemical agent was used to gain compliance.”
Clark said he did not have access to Thomas’ complete files on Thursday.
Texas’ Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Thomas’ conviction in 2008. His appeals are ongoing and Peterson-Cate said Thomas’ actions are likely to have little affect on the appeals process. Thomas’ attorney for the appeals process, Don Bailey, is serving in the military and could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Attempts to reach Thomas’ family Thursday were not successful.