Kim Kardashian Westwas withRodney Reedwhen he found out that he would no longer be executed for a crime he maintains he did not commit.
In a new interview withTodayshow co-host,Jenna Bush Hageron Monday, the reality star and criminal justice advocate opened up about the moments she shared with Reed prior to learning thelife-changing news.
“We did talk a lot about his case and how he just would love justice for him, for his family, for the victim’s family,” Kardashian West said. “It’s really important to him that the scientific evidence be brought and considered heavily.
“Then we talked about family, and his kids and his family and grandkids and mother and really important, special things in his life,” she added.
NBC News’ TODAY
Jenna Bush Hager and Kim Kardashian West.NBC News’ TODAY
Over the last few years, Kardashian West has made it a mission to pursue her passion for criminal justice reform. Last year, the mom of fourhelped release Alice Johnson, a non-violent drug offender, from a life sentence, and has since began afour-year apprenticeship with a law firmin San Francisco — her goal being to take the bar in 2022.
Reed’s casewas the most recent cause that the reality star chose to advocate for. He had been on death row in Texas for more than two decades for the 1996 murder of Stacy Stites, which he claims he did not commit.
Kardashian West told Bush Hager she was “strategic” about getting involved, saying she made sure she felt confident that the case should be looked at again.
On Friday, Reed found out his execution had been suspended when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled to block Reed’s execution, which had been scheduled for November 20,according to theNew York Times.
Kim Kardashian, Rodney Reed.Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Texas Department of Criminal Justice
“It was just this overwhelming sigh of relief and hope that really filled the room,” Kardashian West told Bush Hager of the moment they heard the ruling.
She added, “But still, I think when someone has been through so much trauma and so much disappointment in their life, especially when they feel like they haven’t really been heard, you can imagine still a sense of almost disbelief or a little bit less emotion than you would probably imagine because of the history of being just let down for so many years of wanting to tell your truth and saying it but no one hearing that.”
The KKW Beauty mogul was just one of themany celebrity voicesto stand up for Reed after his attorneys with theInnocence Projectsaid they have new eyewitness evidence to be presented that would help prove he was not guilty. Experts that were called in 1998 when he was convicted of the 1996 murder have also recanted their testimony.
Prior to her interview with Bush Hager, Kardashian West shared a snippet of her experience helping Reed in a post on Instagram, writing about the “hope” everyone felt after the court’s decision.
source: people.com
