Donald Gene Franklin, whose appeal halted executions in the state for more than nine months, was put to death early Thursday for abducting and murdering a nurse 13 years ago.
Franklin, 37, made no final statement before a lethal injection was administered at the Texas Department of Corrections' Wall Unit.Franklin stared at the death chamber ceiling and coughed several times as drugs flowing through needles inserted into his arms took effect. He was pronounced dead at 12:30 a.m., six minutes after doctors began administering the injection.
Franklin was the second person executed this year in Texas, which leads the nation with 27 executions since the U.S. Supreme Court restored capital punishment in 1976. He was the 102nd person executed in the United States since then.