Kelsey Patterson, 50, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic,...

Kelsey Patterson, 50, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, was executed this evening as Gov. Rick Perry rejected a parole board recommendation to commute the sentence to life in prison or delay the lethal injection. He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m. At least 3 mentally ill prisoners have been executed in Texas since the Supreme Court ruled 2 years ago that severely mentally retarded inmates should not be executed. In a 5-1 vote, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles endorsed a petition from Patterson's lawyers and supporters that he be spared. Texas resumed carrying out executions in 1982, and Monday's board action marked the first time at this late stage in a condemned inmate's case the panel recommended the governor commute a death sentence. "State and federal courts have reviewed this case no fewer than 10 times, examining his claims of mental illness and competency, as well as various other legal issues," Perry said in a statement less than an hour before Patterson's scheduled execution time. "This defendant is a very violent individual. Texas has no life without parole sentencing option, and no one can guarantee this defendant would never be freed to commit other crimes were his sentence commuted. In the interests of justice and public safety, I am denying the defendants request for clemency and a stay." Patterson was condemned for the 1992 shootings of Dorthy Harris, 41, and Louis Oates, 63. In 1980 in Dallas and in 1983 in Palestine, Patterson was ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges related to nonfatal shootings. In March, Perry for the 1st time since taking office in 2000 commuted the death sentence of a prisoner. The inmate is mentally retarded and was not within hours of a scheduled execution. In 1998, 4 days before former self-confessed serial killer Henry Lee Lucas was to die, then-Gov. George W. Bush commuted Lucas after questions were raised about his conviction. It was the only death sentence commuted by Bush in his 6 years in office when 152 executions were carried out. Patterson becomes the 9th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Texas, and the 25th in the USA.