Texas executes inmate for the first time in nearly a year

Quintin Jones was executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville on Wednesday night, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesperson Jeremy Desel.

Jones became the first inmate executed in the state of Texas since July 2020, and only the third person put to death in the state since Covid-19 first swept through the US, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice online records.

Texas executed three people in 2020, which was significantly lower than in recent years. In 2019, Texas executed nine people, in 2018, the number was 13, and in 2017, the number was seven, according to the TDCJ data sheet.

Jones was convicted of killing his great-aunt and stealing property from her residence in 1999, state records show.

“I would like to thank all of the supporting people who helped me over the years,” Jones said in his last statement. “Love all my friends and all the friendships that I have made. They are like the sky. It is all part of life, like a big full plate of food for the soul. I hope I left everyone a plate of food full of happy memories, happiness and no sadness. I’m done warden.”

The US Supreme Court denied the stay of execution earlier Wednesday, which allowed Jones’ execution to proceed.

Jones was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m. CT, according to Desel.

No media witnesses attended the execution, the spokesperson said.

“As a result of a miscommunication between officials at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, there was never a call made to the summon the media witnesses into the unit,” Desel told CNN in an email. “We apologize for this critical error. The agency is investigating to determine exactly what occurred to ensure it does not happen again,” he added.

Media members were staged across the street from the unit in advance of Jones’ scheduled execution, according to Desel.

According to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the media may have five witnesses present for executions.