Austin American-Statesman police reporter Tony Plohetski describes what it was like to watch the execution of cop killer David Powell after interviewing him. “I was unsure then – and I’m unsure now – the extent to which the image of Powell dying will linger. That night in my hotel room, scenes from that day replayed in my mind as I fell asleep,” Plohetski writes.
“In that moment at the prison, I focused on my job,” he says. “As [officer Ralph Ablanedo’s] family prepared to walk outside, I scurried past them and rushed to give the news to my media colleagues, who had gathered around a bank of TV cameras. The sentence had been carried out, I told them.”