Texas man executed for burning death of a 76-year-old store clerk, Nancy Harris, during a 2012 robbery
Share this @internewscast.com

A Texas resident was executed on Tuesday evening, exactly 13 years after committing a robbery at a convenience store where he set a clerk on fire in a suburb of Dallas.

Matthew Lee Johnson, aged 49, was given a lethal injection at the Huntsville state penitentiary. He was sentenced for his actions on May 20, 2012, which involved attacking 76-year-old Nancy Harris, a great-grandmother, by dousing her in lighter fluid and setting her aflame in Garland. She succumbed to her severe injuries several days later.

Asked by the warden if he had a final statement, Johnson turned his head and looked at his victim’s relatives, watching through a window close by.

“When I look at each of you, I see her from that day,” he expressed slowly and clearly. “I sincerely ask for your forgiveness. Hurting her was never my intention.” He also mentioned, “I hope that she is the first person I see when I open my eyes and that I can spend eternity with her.”

“I made wrong choices, I’ve made wrong decisions, and now I pay the consequences,” said Johnson, who also asked forgiveness from his wife and daughters.

There was little reaction from Harris’ relatives – three sons, two daughters-in-law and a granddaughter – who witnessed the execution and declined to speak with reporters afterward.

As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began taking effect, Johnson gasped several times, then made repeated sounds like snoring. Within a minute, all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead at 6:53 p.m. CDT, 26 minutes after the drugs began flowing into his arms.

Johnson’s execution was the second carried out Tuesday in the United States. Hours earlier in Indiana, Benjamin Ritchie received a lethal injection for the 2000 killing of a police officer.

The day’s executions were part of a group of four scheduled within about a week’s time. On May 15, Glen Rogers was executed in Florida. On Thursday, Oscar Smith is scheduled to receive a lethal injection in Tennessee.

Security video captured part of the attack against Harris who, despite her burns, was able to describe the suspect before she died.

Johnson’s guilt was never in doubt. During his 2013 trial, he admitted to setting Harris on fire and also expressed remorse. “I hurt an innocent woman. I took a human being’s life … It was not my intentions to — to kill her or to hurt her, but I did,” he had said at the time.

Johnson said he had not been aware of what he had done as he had been high after smoking $100 worth of crack. His attorneys told jurors Johnson had a long history of drug addiction and had been sexually abused as a child.

Harris had worked at the convenience store for more than 10 years, living only about a block and a half away, according to testimony from one of her sons. She had four sons, 11 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Prosecutors said Harris had only been working her Sunday morning shift for a short time when Johnson walked in, poured lighter fluid over her head and demanded money.

After Johnson grabbed the money from the register, he set Harris on fire and calmly walked out of the store, according to court documents. Harris frantically tried to extinguish herself and her clothing, exiting the store and screaming for help before a police officer used a fire extinguisher to douse the flames covering her body. Johnson was arrested about an hour later.

Harris suffered extensive second- and third-degree burns over her head and face, neck, shoulders, upper arms, and leg and was in a great deal of pain in the days before she died, a nurse and doctor testified.

Johnson’s legal team did not pursue any appeals this week with the U.S. Supreme Court, according to David Dow, one of the inmate’s attorneys. Lower appeals courts had previously rejected defense requests to stay the execution, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Friday denied Johnson’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty.

In previous appeals, Johnson’s lawyers had argued his death sentence was unconstitutional because he was improperly determined to be a future danger to society, a legal finding that was needed to sentence him to death. His most recent appeals had argued his execution date had been illegally scheduled.

Johnson was the fourth person put to death this year in Texas, historically the nation’s busiest capital punishment state. Tuesday’s executions in Texas and Indiana brought this year’s total in the U.S. to 18 inmates put to death.

Copyright © 2025 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Share this @internewscast.com
You May Also Like
Martha’s Vineyard residents forced to go vegan, become ‘social pariahs’ because of bloodsucking insect

Martha’s Vineyard Locals Pressured to Adopt Vegan Diets, Face Social Ostracism Due to Bloodsucking Insect Outbreak

Residents in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, are being compelled to adjust their diets…
Near-term chances of an eruption at Alaska's Mount Spurr volcano now considered 'extremely low'

The likelihood of an eruption at Alaska’s Mount Spurr volcano in the near future is now seen as ‘extremely low’

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — On Wednesday, authorities downgraded the alert level for…
World Boxing to require sex testing for women's division

World Boxing to Implement Gender Verification for Women’s Competitions

The tests identify the presence or absence of Y chromosome genetic material…
Victim in viral Cincinnati street brawl now charged in case, police say

Cincinnati Street Brawl Victim Faces Charges, Police Report

A man involved in the recent violent altercation on the streets of…
Florida Hometown Heroes applications now open

Applications Now Open for Florida’s Hometown Heroes Program

The program provides up to 35,000 to eligible first time homebuyers for…
Wilmington, North Carolina building explosion NC leaves 4 firefighters injured

Explosion in Wilmington, North Carolina Injures Four Firefighters

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Four firefighters were injured after a building exploded Tuesday…
Vladimir Putin's six-year-old son in a gymnastics gym.

“Vladimir Putin’s Secret Sons with Gymnast Unveiled: New Footage Shows Them for the First Time”

VLADIMIR Putin has given fake names to his secret children with his…
Kentucky judge killed in chambers accused of trading sexual favors for influence at wild parties

Kentucky Judge Found Dead in Chambers Amid Allegations of Trading Favors for Influence at Extravagant Parties

In rural Kentucky, a judge allegedly shot in his office last year…
Retired Chicago priest Monsignor Daniel Mayall reinstated, accused of sexual abuse of a minor, Archdiocese of Chicago says

Chicago Archdiocese Reinstates Monsignor Daniel Mayall After Sexual Abuse Allegations

CHICAGO (WLS) — A retired priest of the Chicago-area is being reinstated…
Woman taking a selfie in a gym.

Popular fitness influencer Nicole Brenda Santos Marins dies after cycling accident involving a car and subsequent lorry collision

A FITNESS influencer has been killed in a horror crash after cycling…
Blue city rattled as alleged serial attacker preys on women in ritzy neighborhood

Upscale Neighborhood in Blue City on Edge as Suspected Serial Attacker Targets Women

Philadelphia’s community is feeling anxious following a series of sexual assaults that…
Pope Leo opts to share papal residence with four associates, breaking with tradition

Pope Leo Breaks Tradition by Sharing Papal Residence with Four Associates

Pope Leo XIV is introducing changes at the Vatican by choosing to…