Texas Execution for Man of Killing Ex-Girlfriend on Fire

Carl Henry Blue was executed in Texas on Thursday for killing his ex-girlfriend by setting her on fire in 1994.

Blue's final appeal was refused by the U.S. Supreme Court was executed Thursday night by lethal injection at the state penitentiary at Huntsville. He was pronounced dead at 6:56 p.m. local time.

Blue was convicted of killing Carmen Richards-Sanders, 38, in her apartment in Bryan, Texas, in September 1994 as she was getting ready to leave for work.

"I never meant to hurt your mama," Blue said in his final statements greeting victim's daughter, Terrella Richards. "If I could change that, I would... I hope you can forgive me."

He told his parents, watching from an adjacent room, that he loved them and acknowledged his wrong actions. He said he was "paying the ultimate justice... It may be crooked justice but I forgive those people."

He later added, "Cowboy up. I'm fixin' to ride, and Jesus is my vehicle."

Texas Department of Criminal Justice records reveal Blue's struggle over two-decade to avoid execution for the horrendous crime. He threw gasoline on both his former girlfriend and the other man then used a lighter to set the fire.

Richards-Sanders died of organ failure caused by burns over 40 percent of her body, while the male victim survived.

This is the first execution in Texas this year, which leads the United States in executions and the second in the country.

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