Texas executes Quintin Jones, a prisoner who murdered his great-aunt in 1999

The state of Texas executed inmate Quintin Jones on Wednesday for the 1999 murder of his 83-year-old great-aunt. In addition, he had stolen $ 30 to buy drugs near Dallas.

Quintin Jones, a 41-year-old African-American, was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. local time after receiving a lethal injection in the Huntsville jail (near Houston), as reported by the Department of Criminal Justice of Texas.

His last words were: “I would like to thank all the people who have supported and helped me over the years. I am glad to leave this world as a better and more positive place”.

Jones’s was the first execution of Texas in almost a year, a very unusual period produced by the pandemic and by judicial decisions, and also the first since Donald Trump left power.

Jones was sentenced to death in 2001 for beating his great-aunt Berthena Bryant to death in September 1999 and stealing $ 30 from her to buy drugs near Dallas.

Prior to the crime against his great-aunt, Jones had allegedly been involved in two other murders, although he was never charged in those cases.

Bryant’s sister, Mattie Long, had supported a petition for clemency by Jones to prevent him from being executed, but it was rejected by both the Texas board of pardons and the governor, Republican Greg Abbott.

“Because I was very close to Bert, his death hurt me a lot. Still, God is merciful. Quintin can’t bring her back. I can’t bring her back. I am writing this to ask you to please spare Quintin’s life”.

The execution of Jones occurred without the presence of the media of witnesses, a fact that the state has described as a “error”And for which he has apologized.

Jones’s was the first execution of the year in Texas and fourth in the whole country. Since the Supreme Court reintroduced the death penalty in 1976, they have been executed in USA 1,533 people, 571 of them in Texas.