JUST IN: Texas Moves Forward With Execution — Darlie Routier | Two Sons Stabbed | Last Meal & ……

Texas has taken the first official step toward executing Darlie Routier, the 55-year-old mother convicted of murdering her two young sons in a case that has divided the nation for nearly three decades. State officials confirmed today that they are moving forward with the lethal injection process, signaling an end to years of legal delays and DNA testing battles.

Routier has spent 28 years on death row at the Patrick O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville, Texas, after being sentenced to die for the June 1996 stabbing deaths of her sons, 5-year-old Devon and 3-year-old Damon. The execution date has not yet been set, but sources indicate that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is preparing the necessary protocols.

The announcement comes as a shock to Routier’s supporters, who have long argued that she is innocent. They point to unresolved DNA evidence, a bloody sock found 75 yards from the home, and unidentified fingerprints at the scene. The state, however, maintains that the evidence against her is overwhelming.

Prosecutors built their case on circumstantial evidence, including a 911 call where Routier said an intruder attacked her family. They argued that she staged the crime scene, cut her own throat, and killed her sons because of financial stress and a desire to reclaim her lavish lifestyle.

The most damaging piece of evidence was a video recorded eight days after the murders, at the boys’ graveside birthday party. In it, Routier laughs, chews gum, and sprays silly string over the graves. The video was played repeatedly for the jury, who convicted her in 1997.

Defense attorneys have long argued that the video was taken out of context. They claim that prior to the cameras rolling, the family held a solemn memorial service. That part was never shown to the jury because it was captured by hidden police surveillance that was deemed inadmissible.

Routier’s case has been plagued by forensic controversies. Blood spatter experts testified that cast-off blood on her nightshirt indicated she was standing behind her sons as she stabbed them. But other experts have questioned whether the timeline allows for her to have committed the murders and staged the scene in just two minutes.

The timeline is critical. The medical examiner said Damon could have survived no more than nine minutes after being stabbed. Routier was on the phone with 911 for nearly six minutes, and police arrived moments later.

That leaves only a narrow window for her to have stabbed both boys, cut the garage screen, run barefoot to an alley, and return.

Then there is the bloody sock. It contained DNA from both boys but none from Routier. If she planted it to suggest an intruder, why did she not leave a trail of her own blood?

No blood was found outside the house except on that sock. The question has never been fully answered.

In 2008, a court ordered DNA testing on key items, including the sock and Routier’s nightshirt. But bureaucratic delays have stalled the process for 16 years. In 2021, a judge ordered new testing, and samples were finally sent to a lab in February 2024.

Results are still pending.

Routier’s surviving son, Drake, was just seven months old when his brothers were murdered. Now 30, he has visited his mother through bulletproof glass his entire life. He lives in Texas with his father, Darren, who divorced Routier in 2011 but continues to believe in her innocence.

Darren Routier has said that the family’s financial troubles may have played a role. He admitted to discussing an insurance scam months before the murders, asking his father-in-law to find someone to 𝒻𝒶𝓀𝑒 a burglary. Some have speculated that the plan went horribly wrong, leading to a real break-in.

But prosecutors dismissed that theory. They argued that Routier killed her sons for $10,000 in life insurance policies, though the funeral costs exceeded $14,000. They also noted that she did not 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 her husband, who had an $800,000 policy, nor did she harm her youngest son sleeping upstairs.

The trial was held in Kerrville, Texas, one of the most conservative counties in the state. The jury deliberated for eight hours over two days, watching the silly string video seven or eight times. They returned a guilty verdict on February 1, 1997, and sentenced her to death three days later.

Appeals have been ongoing ever since. In 2008, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a review of the trial transcript, which contained more than 30,000 errors. But the court ruled that the errors were not significant enough to warrant a new trial.

Routier’s attorneys have also argued that her trial lawyer had a conflict of interest because he previously represented her husband. That claim was denied. In 2018, a documentary series, “The Last Defense,” reignited public interest in the case, featuring interviews with Routier and her family.

In the documentary, Routier said of the silly string video: “Devon wanted to be seven. I did the only thing I knew to do to honor him.” She has maintained her innocence for nearly three decades, insisting that an intruder entered her home that night.

Police found a cut window screen in the garage, but the window sill had undisturbed dust. The flower beds showed no footprints. Inside, circular blood drops indicated someone standing still, not running.

A vacuum cleaner was found knocked over on top of bloody footprints, suggesting the scene was staged.

Yet unanswered questions remain. A bloody fingerprint on a coffee table did not match anyone in the family. A fingerprint on the garage window sill also remains unidentified.

These prints have never been explained by the prosecution.

Routier’s mother, Darlie Kee, has visited her daughter regularly and never doubted her innocence. “I want my daughter home,” she has said. “And then we will grieve together for Devon and Damon.”

The boys would now be 36 and 34 years old.

The state’s move to proceed with execution has sparked outrage among innocence advocates. They argue that executing Routier before the DNA results are released would be a grave injustice. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office has not commented on the timing of the execution.

Legal experts say that while no execution date has been set, the state’s action signals that the decades-long legal battle may be nearing its end. Routier’s attorneys are expected to file emergency motions to halt the process until the DNA testing is complete.

In the meantime, Routier remains in her cell, waiting. She has not touched her son in 28 years. She has not celebrated a birthday outside prison walls.

She has not walked free since she was 26 years old. Now, at 55, she faces the possibility of lethal injection.

The case of Darlie Routier continues to polarize. To some, she is a cold-blooded killer who murdered her own children for selfish reasons. To others, she is a victim of a rush to judgment, a flawed investigation, and a media circus that convicted her before the trial began.

The silly string video remains the enduring image of the case. But as her supporters note, it does not show the tears shed in private. It does not show the memorial service.

It does not show a mother grieving in the way the world expected her to.

Texas has executed 591 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. Only four of them have been women. If Darlie Routier is executed, she will be the fifth.

The state has not executed a woman since 2014, when Lisa Coleman was put to death for the murder of her son.

The next steps will be closely watched. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals may intervene. The U.

S. Supreme Court could be asked to stay the execution. And the DNA results, if they ever come, could change everything.

But for now, Texas is moving forward.

Darlie Routier’s last meal has not yet been requested, but prison officials have begun the standard pre-execution procedures. Her attorneys are racing against time. The families of Devon and Damon Routier wait for a final resolution, one way or another.

This is a developing story. More details will be released as the execution date is formalized. The debate over guilt or innocence will likely continue long after the state carries out its sentence.

For Darlie Routier, the clock is ticking.