A Texas man was executed on Tuesday evening for the brutal murder of an elderly clerk, whom he set on fire during a convenience store robbery more than ten years ago.
Matthew Lee Johnson was put to death for the 2012 killing of 76-year-old Nancy Harris, a great-grandmother who was doused with lighter fluid and set ablaze at a store in Garland. At 49 years old, Johnson received a lethal injection after 6 p.m. at the Huntsville state penitentiary.
His execution was one of two scheduled in the U.S. that evening. In Indiana, Benjamin Ritchie was also set to be executed for the 2000 murder of a police officer.
These two executions are part of a series of four planned within about a week. Glen Rogers was executed in Florida on May 15, and Oscar Smith is scheduled to be executed in Tennessee on Thursday.
David Dow, one of Johnson’s defense attorneys, announced he would not pursue any further appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution. Previous requests to delay the execution had been denied by lower courts, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles also rejected Johnson’s appeal to reduce his death sentence.
Johnson’s legal team had previously argued that his death sentence was unconstitutional, citing a flawed determination that he posed a future danger to society—one of the legal requirements for a death sentence. His most recent appeals claimed that scheduling his execution date was unlawful.
Security footage captured parts of the attack on Harris, who, despite being severely burned, managed to describe her attacker before passing away from her injuries several days later on May 20, 2012. Johnson’s execution took place exactly 13 years after the assault.
There has never been any doubt about Johnson’s guilt. During his trial in 2013, he admitted to setting Harris on fire, expressing deep regret and referring to himself as “the lowest scum of the earth.” He stated he had been under the influence of crack cocaine, having spent \$100 on the drug, and claimed that his substance abuse and childhood sexual trauma contributed to his actions.
The Texas Attorney General’s Office stated that Johnson’s multiple appeals were merely attempts to delay his execution. “Thirteen years after the crime, justice should no longer be postponed,” they wrote in a recent court filing.
Harris had worked at the store for over a decade and lived just a block and a half away. She was a mother of four, a grandmother to 11, and a great-grandmother to seven. Her son, Scot Harris, testified about her life and the tragedy.
Prosecutors said that on the morning of the attack, Harris had just started her shift when Johnson entered, demanded cash, and then set her on fire after taking money from the register. He walked out of the store calmly as Harris fought to put out the flames and fled, calling for help until a police officer intervened. Johnson was arrested about an hour later.
Harris suffered severe burns to her head, neck, shoulders, arms, and legs, and endured excruciating pain until her death, according to medical testimony.
If the execution proceeds as planned, Johnson will become the fourth person executed in Texas this year, a state with the highest number of executions in the U.S. If both executions scheduled for Tuesday are carried out, the total number of death sentences executed nationwide this year will reach 18.