Texas executes 400th inmate since 1982

[carolinem]

Texas executes 400th inmate since 1982

By MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 52 minutes ago


HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A man convicted in the shooting death of a convenience store clerk became the 400th person on Wednesday to be executed in Texas since the state resumed capital punishment in 1982.

Johnny Ray Conner, 32, asked for forgiveness repeatedly and expressed love to his family and his victim's family, who watched him through windows in the death chamber.

"This is destiny. This is life. This is something Allah wants me to do," he said. "I'm not mad at you. When I get to the gates of heaven I'm going to be waiting for you. Please forgive me."

"What is happening to me is unjust and the system is broken," said Conner who spoke until the drugs took effect. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m., eight minutes after the lethal drugs began to flow.

Conner was convicted in 1999 for fatally shooting Houston convenience store clerk Kathyanna Nguyen, 49, during an attempted robbery.

Julian Gutierrez, a customer walking inside the store to pay for gasoline, interrupted the holdup, tried to run back outside and was shot in the shoulder. Nguyen was shot in the head.

Conner's lawyers earlier Wednesday lost an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the lethal injection. In arguments rejected by the justices, Conner contended his trial attorneys were deficient for not investigating an old leg injury that left Conner with a limp. The disability would have prevented him from running away from the store quickly.

Gutierrez survived and was among at least three people to identify Conner, whose fingerprint also was found on a bottle at the shooting scene.

Conner was the 21st put to death this year in Texas. Three more are scheduled to die next week.

The prospect of Conner becoming Texas' 400th executed prisoner prompted an outcry from death penalty opponents.

The European Union, which opposes capital punishment and bans it in its 27 nations, urged Gov. Rick Perry to stop Conner's execution and impose a death penalty moratorium.

Perry spokesman Robert Black brushed aside the criticism.

"Texans long ago decided that the death penalty is a just and appropriate punishment for the most horrible crimes committed against our citizens," he said.

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On the Net:

Texas Department of Criminal Justice execution schedule www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/scheduledexecutions.htm

Johnny Ray Conner ccadp.org/johnnyconner.htm


R.I.P Johnny Ray Conner....

Free at last, free at last,
Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last.
The very time I thought I was lost,
Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last;
My dungeon shook and my chains fell off,
Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last.

Reese & Caroline Mason

[MXB]

Texas Carries Out 400th Execution Wednesday

Convicted killer Johnny Ray Conner, 32, became the 400th condemned inmate Texas has put to death since executions resumed in 1982, 10 years after the US Supreme Court voided every state death penalty.

The total is by far the highest among states with the death penalty.

Conner received a lethal injection just after 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Texas death chamber in Huntsville. Earlier Wednesday the US Supreme Court refused to block the execution.

Conner was sentenced to die for the 1998 shooting death of Houston convenience store clerk Kathyanna Nguyen, who was murdered during a robbery. A customer was also shot, but survived, and helped identify Conner.

The Shreveport, La. native, had a history of assaults and drug offenses, including cocaine possession when he was 12.

The execution came just days after the European Union asked Gov. Rick Perry to halt executions and declare a moratorium on capital punishment in the state. Perry did not heed the request.

Perrys spokesman Robert Black said while Texas "respects our friends in Europe" the state would decline the call for a moratorium.

A US Supreme Court ruling in 1972 voided every state death penalty in the US because it was unfairly and arbitrarily applied.

States including Texas went back to the drawing board and drafted new statutes that ensured consistent application of capital punishment.

The Texas Legislature passed a new law in 1973, and 4 years later Texas adopted lethal injection as the states means of execution.

Texas resumed executing inmatesusing lethal injectionon Dec. 7, 1982, when Charlie Brooks, 40, was executed for the murder of a mechanic who was kidnapped from a car lot, placed in the trunk of a car, driven to a motel room and then shot in the head.

Conner becomes the 21st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas; there are 3 more executions set for this month and 5 more in September in Texas.

Conner becomes the 161st condemned inmate to be put to death since Rick Perry became Governor of Texas in 2001. The figure represents the most executions carried out during the tenure of any single state governor in American history.

Conner becomes the 35th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1092nd overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

(sources: KWTX News & Rick Halperin)

R.I.P Johnny Ray Connor.