 |
 |
| USA - Matthew Johnson (TX) |
|
USA - Texas. Matthew Johnson, 49, Black, was executed on May 20
May 20, 2025: May 20, 2025 - Texas. Matthew Johnson, 49, Black, was executed on May 20
18th execution of the year in the US
Matthew Johnson was sentenced on November 8, 2023 (see HoC) in Dallas County for killing an elderly store clerk, Nancy Harris, during a convenience store robbery.
Johnson was arrested a little over an hour after he walked into a Garland convenience store on May 20, 2012, with a bottle filled with what was later determined to be charcoal lighter fluid and a cigarette lighter. Johnson dumped the lighter fluid onto Harris and forced her to open the store’s register before setting her on fire, according to court documents. Harris, 76, White, died five days later from her wounds. Security video captured part of the incident, and Johnson admitted to police that he had set her on fire. In testimony during his 2013 trial, Johnson said he had been under the influence of drugs and alcohol during the robbery and used the lighter fluid to scare Harris but did not intend to kill her.
Johnson was executed exactly 13 years to day of the crime.
Johnson was pronounced dead at 6:53 p.m., according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In his final statement, Johnson apologized to the family of the woman he killed, Nancy Harris, and thanked his wife and three kids for supporting him through his incarceration.
Currently, there are no other executions scheduled in Texas. The state’s death row is at its lowest capacity since 1984, with 171 people. If no other executions in Texas are carried out, 2025 will be the seventh consecutive year in which the state has carried out less than 10 executions, part of a national trend of decreased death penalty sentencing.
Johnson becomes the 4th person executed this year in Texas, the 594th since Texas resumed executions in 1982, the 18th of the year in the US, and the n° 1625 overall since the nation resumed executions in 1977.
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/05/20/texas-execution-2025-matthew-johnson/ (Source: texastribune.org, 20/05/2025)
|
