Texas death row inmate commits suicide hours before execution

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Texas death row inmate commits suicide hours before execution

October 20, 2006 08:21:00 am

[JURIST] Michael Dewayne Johnson, a death row inmate in Texas, committed suicide Thursday, 15-hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection [JURIST news archive]. Johnson was convicted of murdering a gas station attendant in 1995, but maintained that he was only a companion to the shooter. Johnson's companion was released from prison after serving an eight-year term in exchange for testifying against his friend.

Johnson became the seventh death row [JURIST news archive] inmate in Texas to commit suicide since 1974. His appeal was rejected by the US Supreme Court last week and he was scheduled to be the state's 22nd execution this year. AP has more.

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