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Matthew Johnson executed for mounting Garland convenience store clerk connected occurrence successful 2012
A Texas antheral was executed Tuesday evening for the burning decease of an aged clerk helium acceptable connected occurrence during a convenience store robbery much than a decennary ago.
Matthew Lee Johnson was condemned for the 2012 death of 76-year-old Nancy Harris, a great-grandmother who was splashed with lighter fluid and acceptable ablaze astatine a store successful Garland.
Johnson, 49, received a lethal injection aft 6 p.m. astatine the authorities penitentiary successful Huntsville.
His was 1 of 2 executions scheduled for Tuesday successful the U.S. In Indiana, Benjamin Ritchie was acceptable to person a lethal injection for the 2000 sidesplitting of a constabulary officer.
These 2 executions are portion of a radical of 4 scheduled wrong astir a week's time. On May 15, Glen Rogers was executed successful Florida. On Thursday, Oscar Smith is scheduled to person a lethal injection successful Tennessee.
David Dow, 1 of Johnson's attorneys, said helium would not beryllium pursuing immoderate last appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to halt the execution. Lower appeals courts had antecedently rejected requests by Johnson's lawyers to enactment his execution. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles connected Friday denied Johnson's petition to commute his decease condemnation to a lesser penalty.
In anterior appeals, Johnson's lawyers had argued his decease condemnation was unconstitutional due to the fact that helium was improperly determined to beryllium a aboriginal information to society, a ineligible uncovering needed to condemnation him to death. His astir caller appeals had argued his execution day had been illegally scheduled.
Security video captured portion of the onslaught against Harris.
Badly burned, she was capable to picture the fishy earlier she died respective days aft the May 20, 2012, attack. Johnson's execution is scheduled to instrumentality spot 13 years to the time Harris was attacked.
Johnson's guilt has ne'er been successful doubt. At his 2013 trial, helium admitted to mounting Harris connected fire. He expressed remorse and called himself "the lowest scum of the earth."
"I wounded an guiltless woman. I took a quality being's life. I was the origin of that. It was not my volition to – to termination her oregon to wounded her, but I did," said Johnson.
Johnson said helium had not been alert of what helium had done arsenic helium had been precocious aft smoking $100 worthy of crack. His attorneys told jurors that Johnson had a agelong past of cause addiction and had been sexually abused arsenic a child.
In tribunal documents, the Texas Attorney General's Office said Johnson's assorted appeals person been efforts to hold a ineligible decease sentence.
"Thirteen years aft the committee of Johnson's crime, justness should nary longer beryllium denied," the AG's Office said successful a tribunal petition filed past week.
Harris had worked astatine the convenience store for much than 10 years, surviving lone astir a artifact and a fractional away, according to grounds from her son, Scot Harris. She had 4 sons, 11 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.
Prosecutors said Harris had lone been moving her Sunday greeting displacement for a abbreviated clip erstwhile Johnson walked in, poured lighter fluid implicit her caput and demanded money.
After Johnson grabbed the wealth from the register, helium acceptable Harris connected occurrence and calmly walked retired of the store, according to tribunal documents. Harris frantically tried to extinguish herself and her clothing, exiting the store and screaming for assistance earlier a constabulary serviceman utilized a occurrence extinguisher to douse the flames covering her body. Johnson was arrested astir an hr later.
Harris suffered extended second- and third-degree burns implicit her caput and face, neck, shoulders, precocious arms, and limb and was successful a large woody of symptom successful the days earlier she died, a caregiver and doc testified.
If the execution is carried out, Johnson would beryllium the 4th idiosyncratic put to decease this twelvemonth successful Texas, historically the nation's busiest superior punishment state. If some of Tuesday's executions instrumentality place, that would bring this year's full to 18 decease sentences carried retired nationwide.
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