Judge: Man Convicted In Child’s Death Not Mentally Disabled

LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — A state judge has ruled that a Ragley man convicted in 2004 of raping and murdering a young girl from Moss Bluff does not have an intellectual disability that would prohibit him from being executed.

The American Press reports Judge Michael Canady ruled Friday that 40-year-old Jason Manuel Reeves is not mentally disabled.

In 2012, Canaday signed a death warrant for Reeves, who was convicted of the November 2001 rape and killing of 4-year-old Mary Jean Thigpen. A scheduled execution date was postponed after attorneys filed an appeal claiming Reeves had an intellectual disability.

Federal law prohibits the state from carrying out the death penalty against convicts with a mental disability.

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