A man convicted of a fatal robbery at a Dallas-area Subway shop a few weeks after he was fired from his job there was executed last night, reports the Associated Press. Terry Edwards, 43, received a lethal injection for the $3,000 holdup at a Subway restaurant where two employees were shot to death in 2002. Asked if he had a final statement, Edwards replied: “I’m at peace with God. I hope y’all find peace in this.”
Edwards’ execution, the second this year in Texas and the third nationally, was delayed about four hours until the U.S. Supreme Court rejected last-day appeals that sought to halt his punishment. Lawyers for Edwards wanted to reopen his case to investigate claims that a court-appointed lawyer earlier in the appeals process provided deficient help by abandoning him. Attorneys also contended that prosecutors incorrectly portrayed Edwards as the shooter, that he was innocent of the shootings, that prosecutors manipulated evidence, and testimony at his trial and improperly excluded black people from the jury. Edwards was black.