A Texas man convicted of murdering a pastor was put to death on Wednesday — and uttered chilling last words prior to being executed.
Steven Lawayne Nelson, 37, was convicted for the 2011 killing of the Rev. Clint Dobson — who was beaten, choked, and suffocated with a plastic bag inside NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington, according to the Associated Press.
The murderer spent his final moments alive speaking to his wife, Helena Noa Dubois — urging her to live a full life as she held up a white service dog to a window separating Nelson from witnesses to his execution.
“It is what it is,” he could be heard telling his wife, whom he married two weeks before being put to death, according to the AP.
Then Nelson, facing eternity, offered his final phrase.
“I’m not scared. I’m at peace. Let’s ride, Warden,” the killer said right before he was lethally injected
As the fatal dose of pentobarbital coursed through his system, Nelson was seen mouthing the word “love” twice before briefly convulsing.
He was declared dead 24 minutes later, according to the AP.
While imprisoned and awaiting trial, Nelson was indicted in the killing of another inmate — a charge for which he was never tried.
This is the second execution to be carried out in the US in 2025.
The first was last Friday in South Carolina, where Marion Bowman Jr. received a lethal injection for a 2001 murder.
Texas has three more executions scheduled before the end of April, the AP reports.
“It is what it is,” he said. “I’m not scared. I’m at peace.. Let’s ride, warden.”
Steven Nelson convicted of murdering Pastor Clint Dobson
The backstory:
In 2012, Nelson was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2011 murder of Clint Dobson at NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington.
Prosecutors said Nelson suffocated the young pastor by putting a plastic bag over his head as he was sitting in his office writing a sermon.
Nelson suffocated Dobson, leaving him dead on the floor.
There are currently three other executions scheduled for this year.
Convicted murderer Richard Tabler is scheduled to be executed on Feb. 13.
Serial killer David Wood is scheduled to be killed on March 13.
Moises Mendoza, who was convicted of strangling a 20-year-old in Collin County, dumping the body in a dirt pit and setting it on fire, is set to be executed on April 23.
Nelson’s execution would be the first since fellow death row inmate Robert Roberson’s execution was delayed at the last minute.
Roberson was scheduled to be executed in Oct. 2024, but the Texas Supreme Court paused his execution after a subpoena from a Texas House committee.
The Supreme Court has since cleared the way for Roberson’s execution.
A new execution date has not been set at this time.
Roberson, 58, was convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter in Palestine, Texas in 2002.
He took her to the emergency room with a high fever, where medical staff determined her condition was consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
Roberson’s attorneys have challenged that diagnosis, calling it “junk science.”
