TEXAS (USA): JOSE VILLEGAS EXECUTED

Jose Villegas, 39, Hispanic, was executed in Texas. Just as the pentobarbital began taking effect, he said, "It does kind of burn. Goodbye." He gasped several times, then started to breathe quietly. Within less than a minute, all movement had stopped. Villegas was pronounced dead 11 minutes after the lethal dose of the sedative began. Villegas was convicted of fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend Erida Salazar, 23, her 3-year-old son, Jacob, and Salazar's mother, Alma Perez, 51, in January 2001.
Villegas becomes the 7th inmate to be put to death this year in Texas, the 515th overall since the state resumed executions on December 7, 1982. in 2001, the 17th inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1376th overall since the nation resumed executions on Janaury 17, 1977.