A death row inmate maintained his innocence, insisting he was ‘not the monster’ he had been depicted as, before his execution on February 5. He shared his final words with his wife just before he was put to death by lethal injection.
Steven Lawayne Nelson was found guilty of the 2011 murder of Clint Dobson, a 28-year-old pastor at North Pointe Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas.
Nelson continued to assert his innocence until his execution, claiming that he was merely a lookout during a robbery that turned fatal, which he said involved two other individuals.
In his testimony, Nelson stated that when he entered the church, Dobson was already on the floor and was still breathing at that time. Judy Eliot, Dobson’s secretary, was also present in the church and was discovered severely beaten but survived.
Before his execution, Nelson spoke to his wife, telling her ‘it is what it is’ and imparted a two-word farewell: ‘enjoy life’.
As he faced his death, Nelson expressed that he was ‘not scared and was at peace’. His last three words were ‘let’s ride, Warden.’
The 37-year-old was pronounced dead at 6:50 pm CST, 24 minutes after the injection was given.
Despite his conviction, Nelson was firm in his attempts to prove his innocence, offering to take a lie detector test to demonstrate that he did not kill Dobson or assault Eliot.
Nelson also stated he was not ‘the monster they say I am’.
Speaking on Newsnation about his involvement in the events, he remarked: “I will tell you that I’d like to apologize for my actions in the role that I played — even though I wasn’t the person who assaulted her. It still hurts to this day that I couldn’t do nothing at the time, you know?”
Although death row inmates commonly receive a final meal, Nelson did not get this privilege.
This policy change stems from the actions of another Texas death row inmate, Lawrence Russell Brewer.
In 2011, Brewer was executed after requesting an extravagant final meal that included two chicken-fried steaks, a triple-meat bacon cheeseburger, fried okra, a pound of barbecue, three fajitas, a meat lover’s pizza, a pint of ice cream, and a peanut butter fudge slab with crushed peanuts.
Prison officials reported that Brewer did not eat any of the meal he requested.
Consequently, the provision for a special meal request was eliminated for inmates scheduled for execution in Texas.