WASHINGTON, 4 MAR - Un uomo condannato per aver ucciso nel 1996 a Houston un sostituto procuratore e' stato messo a morte in serata nel carcere di Huntsville, nel Texas.

Marcus Cotton, 29 anni, e' stato ucciso con un'iniezione letale. E' l'ottava persona giustiziata quest'anno nel Texas. Cotton ha proclamato la sua innocenza fino alla fine.

Le sue ultime parole, quando era gia' legato al letto della morte, sono state per la madre e gli amici.

''Mamma, qualche volta le cose finiscono cosi'. Amate la vita. La realta' non e' sempre quella desiderata. Prendete cura di voi stessi. Vi amo. Dite ai migli figli che li amo'', ha

detto Cotton.

La sua e' stata la 321/a esecuzione compiuta nel Texas dal 1982, anno i cui lo Stato reintrodusse la pena capitale. La 322/a seguira' a breve: Yokamon Hearn, 25 anni, sara' messo a morte tra 24 ore circa per l'uccisione di un uomo a Dallas durante il furto di un'automobile.

Convicted killer of assistant prosecutor executed

In Huntsville, convicted killer Marcus Cotton was executed this evening for the fatal shooting of a Houston-area assistant district attorney during a robbery attempt 7 1/2 years ago.

"Well Mom, sometimes it works out like this," Cotton said from the death chamber gurney as his mother, who was among the witnesses, watched through a window. "When you are dealing with reality, real is not always what you want it to be."

Cotton, 29, told his relatives to take care of themselves and that he loved them and his children.

"Y'all are fixing to find out some deep things that are real. Bounce back, baby. You know what I'm saying. Y'all take care of yourselves," he said.

As the drugs began taking effect, he gasped and sputtered. 6 minutes later, at 6:13 p.m., he was pronounced dead.

Cotton, 29, had been out of prison less than seven months after serving time for attempted murder when he was arrested for gunning down Gil Epstein, 27, a Fort Bend County assistant prosecutor. Epstein was shot in 1996 while leaving Houston's Jewish Community Center after playing basketball with friends.

The U.S. Supreme Court last week refused to review his case, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles rejected a clemency request. Cotton becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 321st overall since Texas resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982.

Cotton becomes the 15th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 900th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.