Texas Executes Man Who Killed 3-Month-Old Son

A Texas man who had waived his right to appeal his death sentence received a lethal injection Tuesday evening for killing his 3-month-old son more than 16 years ago, one of five executions scheduled within a week's time in the US. Travis Mullis, 38, was pronounced dead at 7:01pm CDT following the injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, the AP reports. He was condemned for stomping to death his son Alijah in January 2008. "I'd like to thank everyone ... that accepted me for the man I became during my best and worst moments," Mullis, while strapped to the death chamber gurney, said after his spiritual adviser offered a brief prayer over him. He expressed regret for taking his son's life, and apologized to the boy's mother and her family.

He also thanked prison officials and staff for "changes made across the system" that allowed "even the men on death row to show it is possible to be rehabilitated and not deemed a threat and not the men we were when we came into this system." He said he had no ill will toward anyone involved in the punishment: "It was my decision that put me here." The execution was delayed about 20 minutes while technicians worked to find a suitable vein. One needle carrying the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital was inserted in his right arm, the usual procedure. A second needle, rather than entering his left arm, was inserted in his left foot. He closed his eyes as the drug began taking effect and took seven barely audible breaths before his breathing abruptly stopped. He was pronounced dead 20 minutes later.

Authorities said Mullis, then 21 and living in Brazoria County, drove to nearby Galveston with his son after fighting with his girlfriend. Mullis parked his car and sexually assaulted his son. After the infant began to cry uncontrollably, Mullis began strangling the child before taking him out of the car and stomping on his head, according to authorities. The infant's body was later found on the roadside. Mullis fled the state but was later arrested after surrendering to police in Philadelphia. Mullis' execution proceeded after one of his attorneys said Tuesday afternoon that he planned no late appeals in a bid to spare the inmate's life. Nolan also said in a statement that Texas would be executing a "redeemed man" who has always accepted responsibility for committing "an awful crime." (More on the five people scheduled to be executed over a one-week span.)