Execution Report: Steven Nelson

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A jury found Nelson guilty of capital murder in Ocotober 2012 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in April 2015.

In March 2020, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Nelson's lawyers' permission to appeal on a claim that his trial lawyer failed to sufficiently investigate Anthony Springs and Claude Jefferson's roles as possible co-defendants in Dobson's murder. After a hearing, the federal district court ruled that the weight of evidence against Nelson was so great that any evidence that might have been presented about other people's involvement would not have changed any juror's minds about his culpability. The Fifth Circuit affirmed in June 2023. All of Nelson's subsequent appeals were denied.

In December 2024, Nelson married Helene Noa Dubois, a French immigrant with whom he had been exchanging letters for five years.

In an interview from Death Row the week before his execution, Nelson, tattooed with two teardrops beside his left eye, maintained that he acted as nothing more than a lookout while his two accomplices murdered Clint Dobson and attacked Judy Elliot.

"The evidence that my trial lawyers in that time didn't present, it shows that I did not kill anybody," Nelson said. "It also shows how the judicial system is made for you to lose at all costs, no matter what. And that shouldn't be right."

Nelson also blamed his death sentence on racism, claiming that a state psychologist testified "that I was automatically a future danger because I'm a minority, because I'm black." The court documents reviewed for this report do not contain any record of a psychologist called by the state, or of any such statement by anyone, and his appelate lawyers never raised that as an issue. The only psychologist found in the court documents is Dr. Antoinette McGarrahan, who was called by the defense. McGarrahan's recorded comments made no mention of Nelson's race, but she did testify that Nelson "has many characteristics of a psychopath, including a grandiose sense of self, a lack of empathy, and a failure to take responsibility."

Nelson said that Dobson's family and the church blocked any attempts from him to communicate with them. He said he would like to tell Elliot, "I would like to apologize for my actions in the role that I played, even though I wasn't the person who assaulted her. And, it still hurts to this day that I couldn't do nothing at the time."

"People do deserve second chances," Nelson said in conclusion. "I'm not the monster they say that I am."

Nelson's execution was attended by Dubois and Nelson's spiritual advisor, Jeff Hood. They watched from a viewing room adjacent to the death chamber.

According to Hood, Nelson refused to walk to the van that transferred him from Death Row in Livingston to the execution chamber in Huntsville. There were bandages on his arms that were not there when he visited him earlier that day, Hood said.

In his last statement, Nelson repeatedly told Dubois, "I will always love you no matter ... our love is uncontrollable."

"It is what it is," he continued, adding that Dubois should "enjoy life." Dubois then held a dog, which she was allowed to bring in as a support animal, up to the glass.

"I'm not scared," Nelson said. "I'm at peace. Let's ride, Warden." The lethal injection was then started. "Let me go to sleep," he said. He gasped twice and appeared to try to hold his breath. He was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m.

Clint Dobson's family released a statement saying that they wished to remember him that day and not focus on his killer. Judy Elliot's son, Bradley, said his family forgave Nelson and hoped that he would be "greeted by the same loving and gracious Savior that has stood by us through all we have been a part of."

By David Carson. Posted on 6 February 2025.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press, Austin American-Statesman, NewsNation.