Texas inmate executed for videotaped robbery-slaying

A twice-paroled burglar was executed this evening for gunning down the night manager of a suburban San Antonio convenience store 9 1/2 years ago in a $23 robbery.

"Tell mama I love her," Kia Levoy Johnson, 38, said when asked by a prison warden if he had a final statement. "Tell the kids I love them too. See y'all," he said, directing his comments to his brother, watching through a window a few feet away.

Johnson never looked through an adjacent window where the parents and brother and sister of his victim watched.

He gasped a couple of times as the lethal drugs began to take effect and was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m., 7 minutes after the dose began.

Johnson was condemned for killing William Matthew Rains, who authorities said bled to death after he was shot once in the abdomen with a .32-caliber pistol in the Oct. 29, 1993, fatal attack at the Balcones Heights store.

Johnson's lawyers contended he was mentally retarded and should not be put to death because the U.S. Supreme Court has barred execution of the mentally retarded.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the appeal last week. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also turned down the appeal late Tuesday and Johnson's lawyer took his argument to the Supreme Court. The high court late Wednesday afternoon refused to halt the punishment.

Appeals that contended Johnson received incompetent legal help at his 1995 Bexar County trial were rejected earlier.

Johnson becomes the 16th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 305th overall since the state resumed capital punishment on December 7, 1982. At least 9 more executions are scheduled in Texas before the end of August.

Johnson becomes the 66th condemned inmate to be put to death in Texas since Rick Perry became Governor.

Johnson becomes the 37th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 857th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

NEW YORK,  - Un uomo che aveva ucciso dieci anni fa il commesso di un negozio durante una rapina e' morto in Texas con l'iniezione letale.

Kia Johnson e' stato il sedicesimo detenuto messo a morte in Texas dall'inizio dell'anno. Aveva 38 anni.

I suoi avvocati avevano fatto appello alla Corte Suprema sostenendo che l'uomo era un ritardato mentale, ma la Corte non ha accolto il ricorso.

Johnson e' stato il 305/o condannato che il Texas ha messo a morte da quando nel 1982 lo Stato ha reintrodotto la pena capitale.