Murderer Matthew Lee Johnson’s Final Words Before Texas Execution
May 21, 2025
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Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek’s National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda joined Newsweek in 2019 and had previously worked at the MailOnline in London, New York and Sydney. She is a graduate of University College London. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Khaleda by emailing k.rahman@newsweek.com
Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A Texas man asked for forgiveness before he was executed on Tuesday for the murder of a grandmother who he set on fire during a robbery 13 years ago.
Matthew Lee Johnson, 49, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. He was condemned for the May 20, 2012, attack on 76-year-old Nancy Harris, who he doused with lighter fluid and set ablaze in the Dallas suburb of Garland. She died days afterward.
“First and foremost, I would like to give all praises to God. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here on this Earth. I thank him for the life he has given me,” Johnson said in his final statement, according to a transcript provided to Newsweek by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
He addressed his victim’s family, saying: “As I look at each one of you, I can see her on that day. I just please ask for y’all’s forgiveness. I never meant to hurt her.”
He added: “I pray that she’s the first person I see when I open my eyes and I will spend eternity with her.”
Matthew Lee Johnson was executed by lethal injection at the Texas state penitentiary in Huntsville on Tuesday. Matthew Lee Johnson was executed by lethal injection at the Texas state penitentiary in Huntsville on Tuesday. Texas Department of Criminal Justice
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