A Texas resident, Steven Lawayne Nelson, 37, was executed on Wednesday for the 2011 murder of Rev. Clint Dobson. The pastor was brutally beaten, choked, and suffocated with a plastic bag within the premises of NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington, as per reports.
In his final moments, Nelson was seen communicating with his wife, Helena Noa Dubois, who was holding up a white service dog to a window that separated Nelson from the witnesses of his execution. Nelson, who had married Dubois just a fortnight before his execution, was heard advising her to live her life to the fullest.
As he faced his impending death, Nelson’s last words were, “I’m not scared. I’m at peace. Let’s ride, Warden,” just before the lethal injection was administered. As the deadly dose of pentobarbital flowed into his body, Nelson was observed mouthing the word “love” twice before briefly convulsing. He was pronounced dead 24 minutes later.
While incarcerated and awaiting trial, Nelson was also indicted for the murder of another inmate, a charge that was never brought to trial.
This execution marks the second one to be carried out in the United States in 2025. The first execution of the year took place last Friday in South Carolina, where Marion Bowman Jr. was given a lethal injection for a murder committed in 2001. Texas has three more executions scheduled to take place before the end of April.