HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- Texas inmate Daniel Lee Lopez has been put to death for killing a police lieutenant with an SUV during a chase more than six years ago.
Lopez's lethal injection Wednesday evening was carried out after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals from his attorneys. They disregarded both his desire to die and lower court rulings that Lopez was competent to make that decision.
The 27-year-old was convicted of killing Corpus Christi Lt. Stuart Alexander in March 2009. Alexander was standing in a grassy area on the side of a highway where he had laid down spike strips to try to stop Lopez, who was fleeing from other officers.
Lopez swerved and struck Alexander, killing him.
His execution marked the tenth this year in Texas, the most of any state.
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