By PAUL STONE

PALESTINE — Palestine native Danielle Simpson is scheduled to die Wednesday in Huntsville for the January 2000 murder of an elderly, retired schoolteacher who volunteered as a church organist.

Barring a reprieve from the governor or a final hour legal review, the 30-year-old Simpson will be put to death by lethal injection sometime after 6 p.m. Wednesday for the Jan. 26, 2000 murder of 84-year-old Geraldine Davidson.

Davidson’s body was found floating face down in the Neches River on U.S. 79 between Palestine and Jacksonville by a passing motorist on Jan. 27, 2000. She had been tossed into the frigid river with her hands tied behind her back and a cinder block attached to her ankles.

Simpson, who is one of three Death Row offenders scheduled to be put to death this week, likely would become the 23rd person in the state to be executed this year. He was 20 at the time of Davidson’s murder.

Harris County offenders Gerald Eldridge and Robert Thompson are scheduled to be executed Tuesday and Thursday respectively.

A Herald-Press reporter is among the media members scheduled to witness Simpson’s execution.

In a three-page petition filed late last month, Simpson’s new Houston-based attorneys argued that their client suffers from a “debilitating mental illness” and possesses “diminished intellectual functioning,” rendering him incompetent to be executed.

Federal law prohibits states from executing mentally-retarded defendants.

Attorneys David R. Dow and Katherine C. Black are asking that their client’s sentence be commuted to life, while also requesting a 180-day reprieve to allow him the opportunity to litigate his claims.

Anderson County District Attorney Doug Lowe told the Herald-Press late last week that he had been advised the seven-member Board of Pardons and Paroles is scheduled to consider Simpson’s case on Monday.

If the Board votes to delay Simpson's execution, Texas Gov. Rick Perry could then choose to follow or reject their recommendation.

“I think ultimately it’s going to fall in the governor’s lap,” Lowe said Friday.

Historically, Perry has sided with a jury’s verdict and not interceded in such cases.

“I think he respects the jury system,” Lowe stated.

Simpson’s death date was set this past August after he expressed a desire to proceed towards execution rather than exhaust his entire range of appeals.

In June, U.S. District Judge Ron Clark ruled that Simpson was mentally competent to waive further review of his case, following a hearing which included testimony from a psychiatrist who had examined the Death Row inmate.

Clark wrote in his order that he found no evidence that Simpson suffers from “a mental disease, disorder or defect.”

Five members of Davidson’s family are expected to witness Simpson’s execution on Wednesday. Another half-dozen family members and supporters are scheduled to be in Huntsville.

Paul Davidson, one of Geraldine Davidson’s three adult children, told the Herald-Press that the family had elected not to make any comment prior to Simpson’s execution.

Lowe, who was unsure late last week whether he would be in Huntsville on Wednesday, indicated he was hopeful that the execution proceeds as scheduled.

“I’m still amazed at the level of brutality that was shown against Mrs. Davidson,” Lowe said. “I’m hopeful we’ll get a resolution for Mr. Simpson that the jury said he should get and what he deserves.”

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com