Texas has executed a man who fatally stabbed a suburban Dallas real estate agent more than 16 years ago.
Kosoul Chanthakoummane, 41, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville after being sentenced to death for fatally stabbing 40-year-old Sarah Walker in July 2006.
He thanked Jesus Christ, ministers with the Texas prison system and "all these people in my life that aided me in this journey" after he was strapped to the gurney in the death chamber, according to The Associated Press.
"To Mrs. Walker's family, I pray that my death will bring them peace," he said.
Chanthakoummane's last words were for his mother, who was the watching the execution, AP reported.
"Mom, I love you," he mouthed as he looked toward a window through which she was watching the execution and 5 grams of the sedative pentobarbital was injected in each of his arms.
"I love you," she replied and waved, according to The Tribune-Democrat. Chanthakoummane then took four breaths, gasped slightly and became still. He was pronounced dead 15 minutes later, at 6:33 p.m.
A spiritual advisor was present during the execution at Chanthakoummane's request. The Buddhist monk placed his right hand on Chanthakoummane's chest and read a passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes that refers to "a time for everything" moments before the lethal injection was administered. He responded: "Amen."
Chanthakoummane was among the inmates who had their executions rescheduled last year after arguing that their religious rights were being violated. The U.S. Supreme Court in March ruled that states must accommodate the wishes of death row inmates who want to have their pastors pray aloud and touch them during their executions.
Chanthakoummane was on parole when Walker was found stabbed more than 30 times in a model home in McKinney.
Prosecutors say he entered the model home and then beat Walker, a mother of two children, with a wooden plant stand and stabbed her before stealing her Rolex watch and a silver ring, which were never found.
DNA evidence showed his blood was found in various places inside the model home, including under Walker's fingernails.
Chanthakoummane maintained his innocence, saying he was in the model home but said he only went in to get a drink of water. He had been on parole in Texas after serving time in North Carolina for aggravated kidnapping and robbery.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declined to delay Chanthakoummane's execution after his attorneys challenged the DNA evidence used to convict him. And on Monday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles declined to grant Chanthakoummane either a 120-day reprieve or a commute his death sentence.
Walker's father, Joseph Walker, died last year, but previously spoke of his opposition to Chanthakoummane's execution and said he had forgiven him.
"It was just a totally senseless, random act. But everyone deserves every bit of their life so they can have a chance to repent and go to heaven. I believe that totally, completely," he told the Times Union in 2013.
"I'll go down to the prison and make a big scene," he said, of what he would do on Chanthakoummane's execution date if he lived to see the day.
Chanthakoummane was the second inmate put to death in Texas. Carl Buntion, then the oldest inmate on death row in the state at 78, was executed in April.
