Life and Death Row

Series telling the story of capital punishment through the eyes of young people whose lives have been shaped by it looks at two of the youngest men on death row in Texas.

This film follows the trial of 26-year-old Guy Heinze Jr, with remarkable access to the jury members charged with reaching a verdict on allegations that Heinze beat his father and seven members of his family to death. As the trial progresses, there is legal manoeuvring while evidence about the brutal killings unfolds.

Film following students from the Death Penalty Clinic at the University of Houston as they fight last-ditch appeals for two of the youngest killers facing execution.

The story of Daniel Lopez as he heads towards his execution day.

The story of Shawn Ford Jr who has been charged with murdering his girlfriend's parents and whose case is still awaiting trial.

Two boys both have very different stories about what happened when their friend Justin Back was brutally murdered in January 2014. With prosecutors on both sides seeking the death penalty for the guilty party, this film shines a disturbing light on the American justice system.

Tyrone Trottie killed his wife Barbara and her brother Titus on May 3rd, 1993. He has been on death row for the last 21 years. An execution date has been set for a week's time. Tyrone and Barbara had a son together, affectionately called T.T. This is his story. T.T. was raised by Tyrone's parents, who for years kept the fact that T.T's father had killed his mother a secret from him. As a teenager he met his father for the first time behind prison bars and discovered the devastating truth about what his father had done. With Execution Day a week away, T.T has to prepare himself to lose a parent all over again. Will he forgive his father before he loses him forever?

Heather, a beautiful young wife and mother, has disappeared. Detectives bring in her estranged husband Josh for questioning. Suspicions are aroused when police find out the truth about Josh's love life.

Detectives discover CCTV evidence, which leads them to believe foul play has occurred. They catch Josh out in a lie. While they turn up the heat on Josh, they are still questioning his pregnant lover, Emilia.

Emilia is questioned about the love triangle between her, Josh and Heather. Separated from Emilia, Josh tells police that Emilia knows more than she is saying. But is what he is telling the police really to be believed?

Detectives discover the location of Heather's body and that she has been murdered. They are still no closer to catching her killer. Knowing from the police that Josh is implicating her, Emilia's loyalty to Josh falters.

Emilia tells detectives about a dramatic discovery that points towards Josh being Heather's killer. But why didn't she come forward before? Emilia and Josh are telling very different stories. But who is telling the truth? Josh names two new suspects.

The investigation takes a sharp turn when two new suspects talk to police.

Josh has been in jail all week for fraudulently using Heather's credit cards, and he is cracking under pressure.

Police believe that Emilia is involved in Heather's death, but they have no proof. When Josh's sister Michelle contacts them saying she wants to help, they set a plan in motion to find out what Emilia will tell Michelle about Josh, or about Heather's murder. Will they finally learn the truth?

In this episode we meet death row inmate Stacey Johnson, who is scheduled to be executed for a crime that he claims he didn't commit. With just weeks to go, his wife Judy and stepdaughter Tasha are doing all they can to stop the execution from going ahead. We also meet Susan, whose mother was murdered in a home invasion by inmate Don Davis in 1990. Susan has been waiting for Davis's execution for decades and wants justice to finally be carried out so she and her family can find peace.

In this episode, inmate Stacey Johnson and his family are attempting to get his execution stayed on the basis that DNA testing could prove his innocence. However, the daughter of Johnson's victim, who witnessed the murder, is fighting for the execution to go ahead so she can finally put her mother's death behind her.We are also present at the clemency hearings for inmate Ledell Lee, who is scheduled to die on the same night as Johnson. We meet Lee's defence attorney, who is attempting to halt his client's execution on the basis that he didn't receive a fair trial. However, 24 years after the murder, Lee's original prosecuting attorney is still fighting for his execution to go ahead.

In this episode we meet Lynn Scott, the sister of death row inmate Jack Jones - the next prisoner in line to die. Jones has severe medical problems including diabetes, which led to him having a leg amputated in prison. Jones and his sister are worried that the number of medications he is on could mean the lethal injection drugs don't work properly, resulting in an agonising death. However, the family of Jones's victim Mary Phillips say they have waited more than 20 years for the execution, and they are desperate for justice to be done.We also meet inmate Marcel Williams who is on death row for the rape and murder of 22-year-old Stacy Rae Errickson. With only weeks to go before Williams's execution, his attorney Jason Kearney is fighting to save his client's life, arguing that Williams's original lawyers made serious mistakes during his trial. Kearney says these mistakes meant the jury didn't hear vital evidence that could still save him from execution.

The family of murdered teenager John Melbourne Jr. are fighting for the execution of death row inmate Jason McGehee to go ahead. McGehee's lawyers argue that his sentence is unjust, as he is only one out of a group of teenagers responsible for the murder. In fact, the person who actually took John's life is eligible for parole in 2025.We also meet Kayla Greenwood, whose father, Michael, was murdered by death row inmate Kenneth Williams in a road traffic collision after he escaped from prison. In an extraordinary act of forgiveness, Kayla, is desperate to reconnect the killer with the daughter, Jasmine, he hasn't seen for 17 years.

Charting the final days approaching the scheduled execution of Ivan Cantu. Convicted in 2001 for a double murder in Dallas, he has protested his innocence for over 20 years.

The sentencing trial of former marine Patrick McDowell for the murder of deputy sheriff Joshua Moyers and the impact on those in the case fighting to secure his death, or avoid it.

After 20 years on death row, convicted murderer Ramiro Gonzales is scheduled for execution in June 2024. While one family hopes for a stay of execution, another longs for justice.