Before his execution, Wesley Ruiz apologized to the victim's family but did not look at them. He also thanked his family and friends for supporting him.
Texas on Wednesday executed an inmate convicted of fatally shooting a Dallas police officer nearly 16 years ago after a high-speed chase.Wesley Ruiz, 43, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, for the March 2007 killing of Dallas Police Senior Corporal Mark Nix.
Immediately before his statement, a spiritual adviser standing near Ruiz offered a brief prayer. Outside the brick walls of the prison, a group of about a dozen pro-police motorcyclists sat on their bikes in a cold drizzle, revving their engines and nearly drowning out her words for those inside. Nix, 33, a U.S. Navy veteran of Operation Desert Storm, had been on the Dallas force for nearly seven years and was engaged to be married when he was killed.
Last week, U.S. District Judge David Godbey in Dallas denied a request to stay Ruiz's execution, saying his attorneys failed to show that jurors had made statements during his trial showing "overt racial bias." On Monday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals also denied a similar stay request on claims of racial bias. The appeals court did not consider the merits of the claim, but rejected it on procedural grounds.
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