A Texas death row inmate was executed Wednesday after being convicted of fatally shooting a Dallas police officer nearly 16 years ago after a high-speed chase.
Wesley Ruiz, 43, received a lethal injection at Huntsville State Penitentiary for the March 2007 murder of Dallas Police Senior Corporal Mark Nix.
“I would like to apologize to Mark and the Nix family for taking it from you,” Ruiz said as he lay strapped to a gurney in the death chamber. “I hope this brings you closure.”
Ruiz never looked at Nix’s family and friends, including his mother and sister, who watched the execution a few feet from him through a window. Instead, he thanks his family and friends for their support, while urging his children to “stand strong and continue to make me proud.”
MAN CONVICTED OF MURDERING DALLAS OFFICER NEARLY 16 YEARS AGO FACES EXECUTION
Wesley Ruiz, 43, was found guilty of fatally shooting a Dallas police officer in 2007. Ruiz was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
(Texas Department of Criminal Justice)
“Don’t worry about me. I’m ready to fly,” he said. “Very good, warden, I’m ready to ride.”
As the lethal dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital began to take effect, he took two quick breaths, then began to snore. The eleventh snore from him was the last and there was no more movement. Twenty-two minutes later, at 6:41 p.m., he was pronounced dead.
Ruiz led officers on a high-speed pursuit after he was seen driving a car matching the description of one used by a murder suspect nearly 16 years ago. Ruiz fired one shot at Nix when the officer tried to break the vehicle’s passenger window after the pursuit, authorities said.
The bullet struck Nix’s plate, splintering it and sending fragments into his neck, severing an artery. She later died in a hospital.
2 LOST MONKEYS RETURNED TO DALLAS ZOO, NO SIGNS OF INJURIES
Dallas Police Senior Corporal Mark Nix was struck by a fatal bullet.
Ruiz said he fled from the police that day because he had illegal drugs in his car and had used drugs. He also said that he did not intend to kill Nix, but to arrest him after claiming that Nix threatened to kill him. He also said that he believes that the police fired their weapons at him first.
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Ruiz was the second inmate to be executed this year in Texas and the fourth in the US There are seven more executions scheduled in Texas for later this year, including one next week.
Nix, 33, a US Navy veteran of Operation Desert Storm, had been on the Dallas force for nearly seven years and was engaged to be married when he was killed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
