Jeff Wood

Jeffery Lee "Jeff" Wood (born August 19, 1973) is a man on death row in the state of Texas. He was scheduled for execution in 2008 and 2016 before stays of execution were issued. As in the case of Kenneth Foster, Wood's death sentence stems from the Texas law of parties, which is related to the felony murder rule.

Personal life Early life Wood grew up in San Antonio, Texas. During his childhood and adolescence, he was subjected to severe physical and emotional abuse by his father.

From an early age, Wood was identified with a learning disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Furthermore, he was diagnosed with severe overanxious disorder with avoidant features due to his problematic behaviors and inferiority complex. It was determined that Wood met the disability criteria for emotional disturbance, and he was placed in special education thereafter.

In 1994, Wood fathered a daughter with his then-girlfriend. Furthermore, he has been diagnosed with borderline intellectual functioning due to his subaverage IQ Bunker had given Reneau and Wood inside information about the store’s safe and surveillance recording equipment and instructions on how to enter the office from the back door. According to a police report, Bunker could have prevented the death of Keeran, yet he was never charged as a party to the crime despite his role in the conspiracy to defraud the store. Upon hearing the shot, Wood got out of the truck and entered the store, where Reneau ordered him at gunpoint to assist him.

Reneau admitted to being the shooter in the murder of Kriss Keeran and was executed in 2002. Wood was interrogated by police without counsel present. He gave two statements, which he later revoked, claiming they were involuntary due to being intoxicated and sleep-deprived at the time of questioning. Both uncounseled statements were played for the jury during the guilt/innocence phase of his trial.

Pretrial and mental incompetency At Wood’s pretrial, the court heard that he had no prior felonies and no history of violent crime prior to associating with Reneau. Following a competency hearing, the jury found Wood incompetent to stand trial based on the testimony of his counsel and a neuropsychologist, who stated that his delusional and paranoid thought processes affected his ability to grasp the risks of conviction and rationally aid in his defense. It also presented the expert testimony of discredited psychiatrist Dr. James Grigson, also known as "Dr. Death". Based on a hypothetical question and without having evaluated Wood, he testified that Wood posed a future threat to society. Unbeknownst to the jury, Grigson had been expelled from the American Psychiatric Association and the Texas Society of Psychiatric Physicians three years prior for ethical violations in his court testimonies.

Post-conviction Scheduled executions Wood was scheduled for execution on August 21, 2008. Chief United States District Judge Orlando Luis Garcia granted Wood a last-minute stay and appointed counsel and a mental health expert to assist Wood in his claim of incompetency on the grounds of his delusional thought processes. Wood's request for assistance had previously been denied by the state trial court. After an evidentiary hearing, Garcia concluded that the evidence presented was insufficient to support Wood’s claim of incompetence, and thus his stay of execution was lifted. After reviewing Wood's claims, the state trial court recommended that execution relief be granted. However, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals disregarded the recommendation and upheld Wood's death sentence.

Appeals and clemency petitions Wood has filed multiple appeals and habeas applications, all of which have been denied. Wood’s clemency petitions have been supported by thousands of members of the public, media outlets, religious leaders, and Texas legislators. In 2017, Kerr County District Attorney Lucy Wilke, who was the prosecutor in Wood’s case, requested the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to recommend that Governor Greg Abbott grant clemency to Wood and commute his sentence to life imprisonment. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused to consider Wilke’s request as there was no execution warrant pending at the time.

Media Wood's case was covered on The First Degree Podcast in March 2023.

Current status As of 2026, Wood remains on death row with no scheduled date of execution.