Mia Williams
A death row inmate tried to say one final word before being executed, after beating and suffocating a pastor to death in Texas.
Steven Lawayne Nelson, 37, received a lethal injection on Wednesday (5 February) evening, after being convicted of killing Rev. Clint Dobson in 2011.
The 28-year-old pastor had been beaten, strangled, and suffocated with a plastic bag by the murderer, inside NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas.
He also attempted to murder the church’s secretary, Judy Elliott, 67, but she managed to survive the attack.
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During his execution, his wife, Helene Noa Dubois - who married him recently while he was in prison - was able to watch through a glass window.
Nelson tried to communicate with his wife during the execution, but struggled to put sentences together as the lethal injection was administered.
Before his death, he said: "It is what it is. I’m not scared. I’m at peace."
He also prompted Dubois to 'enjoy life', before turning to the administrator, and saying: "Let’s ride, Warden."
As the lethal sedative pentobarbital was injected into his body, he told his wife: "Let me go to sleep."
But it seemed as though Nelson failed to say his final sentence, which resulted in him uttering a final word.
The drug appeared to take effect as he said 'love'.
He then gasped twice, and appeared like he attempted to hold his breath.
His body reportedly trembled, and he was officially pronounced dead 24 minutes later.
Relatives of the victims put out statements earlier this week.
Dobson's family wrote: "As a family, we have chosen to take this day to focus on the great memories we have of Clint rather than giving time to his killer.
"Steven Nelson forever changed our lives, but he has never occupied our minds. We miss Clint every day. We miss his laughter and his wit, his advice and his love for us."
But Bradley Elliott, whose mother, Judy, survived the attack, took a slightly different approach to his statement.
He said: "Mr. Nelson, we forgive you and hope to see you when we are called home from here.
"I hope that today as Mr. Nelson took his last breath, that he was greeted by the same loving and gracious saviour that has stood by us through all we have been a part of."
According to Texas law, state executions are carried out at or after 6 pm 'by intravenous injection of a substance or substances in a lethal quantity sufficient to cause death, and until such convict is dead'.
Three more executions are scheduled in Texas before the end of April.