Texas man who set store clerk on fire executed by lethal injection
WASHINGTON: A man who pleaded guilty to killing a convenience store worker by setting her on fire was put to death in Texas on Tuesday in the second of three executions to be carried out in the United States this week.
Matthew Johnson, 49, was executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville and pronounced dead at 6:53 pm local time (2353 GMT).
Johnson was sentenced to death for the 2012 murder of Nancy Harris, a 76-year-old grandmother.
He admitted at trial to pouring lighter fluid on Harris and setting her alight during an early morning robbery of a store in Garland, Texas.
Harris suffered severe burns and was taken off life support five days later.
In his final statement, Johnson thanked God and asked for forgiveness from the victim's family, saying 'I never meant to hurt her.'
He also apologized to his wife and asked for her forgiveness, along with the forgiveness of their three daughters.
'Just know that it's nothing that y'all did,' he said to his family. 'I made wrong choices, I've made wrong decisions, and now I pay the consequences.'
Johnson's execution was scheduled to take place just hours after the midwestern state of Indiana carried out its second execution since 2009.
Benjamin Ritchie, 45, was put to death by lethal injection overnight at the Indiana State Prison in Michigan City for the 2000 murder of officer Bill Toney, the Indiana Department of Correction said in a statement.
Toney, a father of two, was shot to death after pursuing a van that had been stolen by Ritchie and another man from a gas station in the town of Beech Grove.
The other execution scheduled this week is in the southern state of Tennessee.
Oscar Smith, 75, is to be put to death by lethal injection on Thursday for the 1989 shooting and stabbing murders of his estranged wife, Judy Smith, and her two sons, Chad and Jason Burnett.
There have been 18 executions in the United States this year: 14 by lethal injection, two by firing squad and two using nitrogen gas.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others -- California, Oregon and Pennsylvania -- have moratoriums in place.
President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use 'for the vilest crimes.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malaysia Sun
12 hours ago
- Malaysia Sun
Malaysia Bus Crash Kills at Least 15, Mostly Students
Thirteen victims died at the scene near the town of Gerik, on the busy East-West Highway near the Thai border, while two died in hospital, Arab News reported. The accident is the deadliest in more than a decade on Malaysias hazardous roads. It looked like the bus had lost control and hit the (minivan) from behind, Perak State Police Chief Hisam Nordin said. Images from the scene taken by the fire and rescue department showed a green bus overturned on its right side with a smashed rear end cover, while the red minivan had slid into a ditch, with its windows blown out. Some victims managed to get out on their own, some victims were thrown out while others were still (trapped) in the bus, the Perak state disaster management authority said in a statement. Rescuers had to use a hydraulic cutter to free people from the bus. The death toll included 14 students from the Sultan Idris Education University, while the last victim was a bus attendant, the emergency services said. Thirty-three others were injured, with seven in critical condition taken to hospital, it added. Most of the victims were aged between 21 and 23. They were traveling from the town of Jerteh in northeastern Malaysia when the accident happened shortly after 1:00 am (1700 GMT on Sunday). Police Chief Hisam said officers were investigating whether the crash involved human negligence or if it was a technical issue. A witness told the New Straits Times it was a chaotic scene with students screaming and crying for help. They were pinned between the wreckage, the witness, identified as Razali, told the paper. Malaysias Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered the Higher Education Ministry to help the victims families and said he and his wife Azizah were deeply saddened by the tragedy. Heartbreaking disasters like these that are repeated often should be a lesson to all to be careful and not to rush, Anwar wrote on Facebook. Your lives are too precious and cant be replaced, he added. Malaysia has a high rate of traffic accidents, with an average of 18 people killed on the roads each day, according to government figures. The East-West Highway, which connects the two seaboards of the Malaysian peninsula, is plagued by accidents, with frequent collisions between animals and vehicles. Malaysia's worst bus disaster happened in 2013 when an express bus plunged down a ravine northeast of Kuala Lumpur, killing 37.
Malaysia Sun
12 hours ago
- Malaysia Sun
1st LD Writethru: Malaysia's road accident kills 15 people
Xinhua 09 Jun 2025, 08:15 GMT+10 KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people were killed when a bus transporting students was struck by a multipurpose vehicle along the East-West Highway in Perak state early on Monday, authorities said. The collision, which was reported at 1:10 a.m. local time, involved 48 individuals, with 13 of them being found dead at the scene, the Civil Defense Force said in a statement. Two more victims were reported to have died in the hospital, according to Bernama. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has expressed his condolences to the families of all the victims in the crash and instructed the Higher Education Ministry to coordinate appropriate assistance for the families of the victims.
Malaysia Sun
12 hours ago
- Malaysia Sun
15 students killed in bus crash in Malaysia
WAM 09 Jun 2025, 10:57 GMT+10 KUALA LUMPUR, 9th June, 2025 (WAM) -- At least 15 students were killed in Malaysia when a bus transporting students collided with a multi-purpose vehicle along the East-West Highway in Banun, Gerik, early this morning, according to Malaysian authorities. A statement from the Hulu Perak operations control centre of the Civil Defence Force (APM) said that they received an emergency call from Gerik Hospital regarding the collision at 1:10 am. The statement confirmed that 48 people were involved in the crash, with 13 victims pronounced dead at the scene, while two more died in the hospital.
