HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A man convicted of killing a North Texas store clerk during a robbery received a lethal injection Tuesday, exactly 13 years after the fatal incident.
The state of Texas executed 46-year-old Matthew Lee Johnson at the Huntsville Unit for setting 76-year-old Nancy Harris on fire during a robbery at a Garland convenience store in 2012. Harris died from her injuries days later.
Security footage showed Johnson entering the store, demanding money, and then dousing Harris with lighter fluid before igniting it and fleeing. Emergency responders transported Harris to a hospital, where she succumbed to severe burns covering most of her body.
A Dallas County jury found Johnson guilty of capital murder in 2013 and sentenced him to death. During the trial, prosecutors introduced evidence of Johnson’s criminal record and history of drug addiction. Johnson’s defense acknowledged his addiction but failed to persuade the jury to issue a life sentence.
In his final statement, Johnson expressed remorse, apologized to Harris’ family, and asked for forgiveness. Witnesses at the execution chamber reported that he accepted responsibility for the crime.
Prison officials administered a three-drug lethal injection at 6:11 p.m. Johnson was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m. Officials said the procedure followed standard protocol without complications.
Johnson’s appeals spanned more than a decade, but no court intervened to halt the execution. The U.S. Supreme Court declined his final petition hours before the sentence was carried out.
The killing of Harris, a longtime employee of the neighborhood store, drew public outrage and attention across Texas. Residents held memorials and urged swift justice in the aftermath of her death.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice confirmed that Johnson’s execution was the state’s third of the year. Officials stated that additional executions are scheduled for the coming months.
