TDCJ executes Texas man who set an elderly Garland gas station clerk on fire

Garland gas station clerk set on fire

In 2012, Johnson was arrested for attacking 76-year-old Nancy Harris. He was 36 at the time. Court documents show he walked into a Garland convenience store with a bottle of lighter fluid and a cigarette lighter. He went behind the counter and took cigarettes, lighters and cash from the register. He dumped the lighter fluid on Harris and set her on fire before walking out of the gas station. He was arrested about an hour later. (This piece originally aired in 2012)

TEXAS - A Texas death row inmate, 49-year-old Matthew Johnson, was executed Tuesday evening. He was convicted of murdering a Garland gas station attendant exactly 13 years ago, on May 20, 2012.

Johnson, set for lethal injection at 6 p.m., was pronounced dead at 6:53 p.m., according to AG Ken Paxton.

Matthew Johnson executed

Texas death row inmate Matthew Johnson is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. CDT on May 20, 2025. (Source: TDCJ)

What they're saying:

According to the Associated Press, Johnson delivered his final words to his victim's relatives through a window.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice released Johnson's statement in its entirety:

"First and foremost, I would like to give all praises to God. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here on this Earth. I thank him for the life he has given me. To Mrs. Harris’ family, as I look at each and everyone of you, I see her on that day. I just please ask for y’all’s forgiveness, I never meant to hurt her. I pray that she’s the first person that I see when I open my eyes, and I will spend eternity with her. To my spiritual advisors, I love y’all, thank you. To all the administration at the Polunsky Unit for helping me and treating me like a man and treating me with fairness and giving me the opportunity to get in right standings with my Lord. To my beautiful wife, I’m sorry baby. I’m sorry for giving up, I’m sorry for quitting. I ask that you forgive me as well. To our beautiful daughters that you bore, Makayi, Deja, Maddox, I ask that you forgive me for giving up on y’all and walking away. Just know that it’s nothing that y’all did. I made wrong choices, I’ve made wrong decisions, and now I pay the consequences. For all my brothers back on the row, I love y’all man, y’all continue on. Jesus is the way brothers, he is the only way. Thank you to my field ministers, my spiritual advisors, and my mentors. Thank you, brothers, for sitting with me, praying with me, just know man, you know who I’m talking to it wasn’t your fault. If it wasn’t from you, I would have got it somewhere. I thank the Lord for the last thirteen years, he has given me the opportunity to ask for his forgiveness, and I thank him for his redemption. Welcome me father, thank each and everyone of you for being here. I’m done, Warden."

The AP said there was little reaction from Harris' surviving family. They declined to speak to reporters after the execution, the AP said.

"Mathew Johnson has been executed and received the just punishment for the senseless, horrifying murder of Nancy Harris. While nothing can restore the innocent life that was taken, he will never be able to hurt anyone again," said Attorney General Paxton. "Vicious criminals must be held responsible for their actions, and I will never stop working to ensure that justice is done."

The backstory:

In 2012, Johnson was arrested for attacking 76-year-old Nancy Harris. He was 36 at the time.

Court documents show he walked into a Garland convenience store with a bottle of lighter fluid and a cigarette lighter. He went behind the counter and took cigarettes, lighters and cash from the register. He dumped the lighter fluid on Harris and set her on fire before walking out of the gas station. He was arrested about an hour later.

Harris died five days after the attack, but before she died, she was able to describe Johnson to the police. She worked at the convenience store for more than 10 years. She had four sons, 11 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

At his 2013 trial, he admitted to setting Harris on fire. He expressed remorse and called himself "the lowest scum of the earth."
"I hurt an innocent woman. I took a human being's life. I was the cause of that. It was not my intentions to -- to kill her or to hurt her, but I did," said Johnson. 

During his sentencing, which happened two years after the attack, he testified he had been under the influence of drugs and alcohol during the robbery. He said he wanted to use the lighter fluid to scare her, but did not intend to kill her. 

Johnson's appeal attempts have failed. His most recent appeal was for a stay of execution with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He claimed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office unfairly influenced his death sentence by suggesting execution dates to the court. His appeal was denied on Sunday.

The Latest:

Johnson's execution is the state's fourth this year. He was scheduled to receive lethal injection after 6 p.m. CDT at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.

In a 7:20 p.m. release, Paxton said Johnson was pronounced dead at 6:53 p.m.

Johnson's execution was one of two in the country on Tuesday. In Indiana, Benjamin Ritchie received a lethal injection for the 2000 killing of a police officer, bringing this year's total to 18.