A death row inmate uttered a haunting final message to the warden moments before receiving the lethal injection.
Steven Lawayne Nelson, 37, was put to death for his role in the 2011 murder of 28-year-old pastor Clint Dobson, who was beaten, strangled, and suffocated with a plastic bag during a robbery at North Pointe Baptist Church in Arlington, according to court records.
Nelson was convicted and sentenced to the death penalty for the crime, though he had maintained that he wasn’t the one who took Dobson’s life or brutally beat 67-year-old church secretary Judy Elliot.
He had repeatedly insisted that he only served as a lookout while two other men carried out the attack and even requested a lie detector test to prove he wasn’t responsible for the murders.
Trial evidence painted a damning picture of the inmate's involvement in the crime, revealing his fingerprints and fragments of his broken belt at the crime scene, victims’ blood on his sneakers, and surveillance footage showing him driving Judy Elliott’s car and using her credit cards, per The Independent.
Investigators also discredited Nelson’s claim that two other men were responsible for the attack, as both had solid alibis. Phone records showed that one man was 30 miles away, while the other was confirmed to be in a chemistry class through phone records and a sign-in sheet.
Nelson’s attorneys argued that he received poor legal representation during his trial and sentencing and claimed the lawyers failed to challenge the other men’s alibis or present mitigating evidence about his troubled upbringing in Oklahoma and Texas.
Despite these appeals, both state and federal courts upheld his conviction. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied his final request for a stay of execution on January 28.
As Nelson spent his final moments alive before the execution on Wednesday (February 5), he spoke to his wife, Helena Noa Dubois, who stood behind a window separating him from witnesses.
He said: “It is what it is,” and urged Helena, who was holding a white service dog, that she should “enjoy life," the Associated Press reported.
Then, as he prepared for the lethal injection, Nelson delivered a chilling final message: "I’m not scared. I’m at peace," before adding: "Let’s ride, Warden."
As the drug took effect, the inmate was seen mouthing the word "love" twice before briefly convulsing. He was pronounced dead 24 minutes later.
The 37-year-old's execution marked the second in the US in 2025. The first took place in South Carolina last Friday when Marion Bowman Jr. was put to death for a 2001 murder.
Texas has three more executions scheduled before the end of April.