A Texas inmate who set fire to a great grandmother during a convenience store robbery was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville state penitentiary on Tuesday, May 20.
Matthew Lee Johnson, 49, said his final words to the relatives of Nancy Harris, 76, exactly 13 years after killing her.
“As I look at each one of you, I can see her on that day,” he told the Associated Press. “I kindly ask for your forgiveness. “I never intended to hurt her.”
“I pray that she’s the first person I see when I open my eyes and I spend eternity with,” he said, according to the AP. “I made wrong choices, I’ve made wrong decisions, and now I pay the consequences.”
The Associated Press reported that Johnson was pronounced dead at 6:53 p.m. CDT.
On May 20, 2012, Johnson robbed the Garland convenience store where Harris worked the morning shift. During the robbery, Johnson doused Harris with lighter fluid, stole cash from the cash register, her rings, two packs of cigarettes, and a lighter, and then set her on fire.
He took candy bars before fleeing the scene, according to the Texas Observer.
Harris tried to extinguish herself at a sink in the store before running outside for help, according to court documents.
Harris, who suffered second- to fourth-degree burns on her face, arms, hands, legs, and chest, was taken to the hospital and died five days later, according to USA Today.
Johnson, who claimed he was high on crack at the time of the killing, confessed to Harris’ murder during his 2013 trial, saying, “I hurt an innocent woman. I took someone’s life… It wasn’t my intention to kill or hurt her, but I did,” he told the Associated Press.
He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death.