A Texas inmate was put to death Wednesday for the 2011 murder of a Dallas area pastor who was beaten and suffocated in his own church.
Steven Lawayne Nelson, 37, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. local time at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.
The inmate talked to his wife as she watched through a window, holding a service dog, repeating that he loved her and was grateful and thankful.
“It is what it is,” he said before telling the woman he recently married she should “enjoy life.”
“I’m not scared. I’m at peace. Let’s ride, Warden,” he added.
As the lethal injection took effect, Nelson gasped twice, trying to hold his breath. For a few seconds, his head, shoulders, and arms trembled before he stopped moving.
He was declared dead 24 minutes after receiving the injection.
Nelson was convicted of killing Rev. Clint Dobson, 28, who was beaten, strangled, and suffocated with a plastic bag during a robbery of North Pointe Baptist Church in Arlington.
Judy Elliott, the 67-year-old church’s secretary, survived severe injuries. Her son said in a statement that her family forgave Nelson.
“I hope that today as Mr. Nelson took his last breath that he was greeted by the same loving and gracious Savior that has stood by us through all we have been a part of.”
