By Associated Press Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - Updated: 05:48 AM EST
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - A black man who argued that he killed in self-defense after racial threats were made against him was executed Tuesday for fatally shooting two teenagers 17 years ago. Lonnie Earl Johnson, 44, didn’t deny killing the teenagers and taking their pickup truck, but had insisted the slayings were in self-defense after the pair pulled a gun and threatened him. The victims were white, and their families deny they were racists. Lawyers for Johnson went to the federal courts to halt the punishment, contending prosecutors withheld evidence favorable to him. Harris County prosecutors and state lawyers denied the allegations.
After a brief delay beyond the 6 p.m. CDT scheduled execution time, the U.S. Supreme Court denied his appeals.
Johnson expressed love to a friend. "It’s been a joy and a blessing. Give everybody my regards. I love you and I’ll see you in eternity," he said in a brief final statement. "Father, take me home. I’m gone, baby. I’m ready to go."
He never looked at six relatives of the victims, including the mothers of Sean Fulk Schulz, 16, and his friend Leroy McCaffrey Jr., 17.
Johnson was pronounced dead at 6:44 p.m. CDT, eight minutes after the lethal drugs began to flow. The execution was the 19th this year in Texas, the nation’s most active death penalty state.
Johnson met the teens at a convenience store the night of Aug. 15, 1990. According to the store clerk, Johnson said he needed a lift because his car had broken down.
He said that the teens pulled a gun on him during the ride and that when he wrestled with the pair to grab the weapon, they were shot. Their bodies were spotted the next morning by a motorist.
Johnson said he took the teens’ pickup truck to Austin to see his girlfriend, who worked at a topless club. He traded the gun to buy some drugs, he said. He was arrested about two weeks later.
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