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Texas death row inmate says he feels lethal injection 'burning in his arm', cites Christ's last words while being executed for murder of student

Larry Swearingen, 48, was found guilty of the brutal strangling of Melissa Trotter, 19, from Montgomery County, Texas
UPDATED APR 9, 2020
(Police Department)
(Police Department)

TEXAS: A death row inmate was executed in Texas on Wednesday, August 21, for the abduction, rape, and murder of a college student in 1998.

Larry Swearingen had repeatedly claimed that he was innocent and his conviction was the result of dubious forensic evidence. 

The 48-year-old man, who was deemed responsible for the brutal strangling of Melissa Trotter, 19, from Montgomery County, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, the Daily Mail reported.

Prosecutors stood firm that Swearingen killed Trotter despite his repeated pleas of innocence and a series of pushbacks on his execution date.

6 p.m.

The US Supreme Court denied a last-ditch appeal filed by Swearingen's lawyers just moments before his scheduled execution at 6 pm.

The 48-year-old was subsequently escorted into the execution chamber at the given time and strapped to an IV.

He became the 12th inmate to be put to death in the US and the fourth person to be executed in Texas this year.

Speaking into a microphone hanging above his head, Swearingen gave his final statement.

"Lord, forgive them," he said. "They don't know what they're doing."

6.35 p.m.

A lethal dose of pentobarbital was injected into Swearingen's body before he began narrating his final moments. 

He said he could "hear" the chemical traversing through his veins, before saying he could "taste it."

"It's actually burning in my right arm," he continued. "I don't feel anything in the left arm."

Immediately after, he let out a short gasp and started to snore quietly. Within moments, he stopped moving.

Among the witnesses present on his victim's behalf were her parents, who watched the ordeal through a window just a few feet from Swearingen. But he never looked at them even once.

6.47 p.m.

Swearingen was pronounced dead 12 minutes after the lethal dose was administered into his body.

"Today, justice was served for Melissa," her family told the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in a statement.

"This process has been overwhelming. We want to praise God for getting us through this horrific ordeal. We feel we now can move forward and start the healing process. We want Melissa to be remembered as a happy, loving, kind spirit with a beautiful smile. We always knew justice would prevail for Melissa."

Trotter was found with a leg from a pair of pantyhose tied around her neck (pictured). (Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

According to previous reports, Trotter's body was discovered by hunters on the morning of January 2, 1999, in the Sam Houston National Forest after she had been missing for several weeks. She was found with a pantyhose tied around her neck.

The teenager was last seen with Swearingen, then 27, on December 8. He was already the lead suspect just three days after her disappearance and was taken into custody for unrelated traffic warrants.

A judge subsequently convicted him of Trotter's murder in 2000 citing a "mountain of circumstantial evidence" and sentenced him to death.

But in the years the followed, Swearingen repeatedly fought in court to overturn his conviction and death sentence. Various scientific experts who collaborated with him argued that Trotter had been killed within two weeks of her body being discovered based on the condition of her body. 

Swearingen's legal counsel also criticized the court for dismissing what they deemed was key evidence in the case.

They highlighted that blood flecks found under Trotter’s fingernails didn’t match hers or Swearingen’s.

"They are going to execute someone that the legitimate forensic science has proven innocent," James Rytting, Swearingen’s attorney said on Tuesday, per the Texas Star Tribune.

"And the execution is going through on the basis of other forensic science that is borderline quackery — in fact it is quackery."

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