Stephen Moody Executed

Texas dishes out some Justice.

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man convicted in the shooting death of a suspected drug dealer during a robbery 18 years ago was executed Wednesday, the 17th this year in the nation's busiest death penalty state.

Stephen Moody, 52, strapped to the Texas death chamber gurney at Walls Unit in Huntsville, about 70 miles north of Houston, addressed his victim's mother and son as they watched through a window.

"I was unable to respond to you in the courtroom," he said. "I can only ask that you have the peace that I do."

After expressing love to his relatives and friends watching through an adjacent window, he said: "Warden, pull the trigger."

The lethal drugs began flowing into his arms at 6:20 p.m., and he was pronounced dead eight minutes later. Moody had asked that no last-minute appeals be filed to try to block his execution.  SOURCE