By KERA News & Wire Services
Dallas, TX –
Texas put convicted killer Stephen Moody to death tonight for the shooting death of a Houston man during a home break-in 18 years ago. In his final statement, 52-year-old inmate addressed his victim's mother and son who were watching through a window.
Moody told them, quote, "I was unable to respond to you in the courtroom. I can only ask that you have the peace that I do." Unquote. Then after expressing love to his relatives and friends who watched through an adjacent window, he said: "Warden, pull the trigger."
The lethal drugs began flowing into his arms at 6:20 p.m., and he was pronounced dead eight minutes later.
Moody accepted responsibility for killing 28-year-old Joseph Hall, 28, with a blast from a sawed-off shotgun at Hall's Houston home in October 1991.
Hall was described at Moody's trial as a drug dealer known to carry a lot of cash. Moody and an accomplice had confronted Hall, who put up a struggle when he was ordered to surrender his money.
Proposed Texas lottery game under fire
The Texas Lottery Commission could consider allowing an EZ Match game that some critics compare to slot machines. The proposed game would involve players giving their money to a retail clerk, who would provide an instant win-or-lose ticket printed by a lottery terminal.
Gov. Rick Perry in years past supported having slot machines at racetracks to help fund public schools, but has since has emphasized opposition to gambling expansion.
Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle says the governor does not support any expansion of gaming "and this appears to be an expansion."
The commission could take up the proposal by Oct. 2. The EZ Match game could be played as an add-on to another lottery game or as a stand-alone game. Commission figures show that of the $3.72 billion in sales in fiscal year 2009, $2.79 billion came from instant scratch-off tickets.
Once-conjoined twins return to Dallas for checkups
Formerly conjoined Egyptian twins separated six years ago in Dallas have returned to Texas for checkups. The boys were separated in 2003 during a 34-hour procedure. They were born joined at the tops of their heads.
Now 8, Mohamed and Ahmed Ibrahim attend school in Cairo, where they live with their parents and siblings.
On Wednesday, the boys were at the Texas Hospital for Advanced Medicine in Dallas, where they got a CT scan and were treated to a pizza-and-ice cream party. The hospital is launching a new Reconstructive Surgery Institute, which is being founded by Dr.
Kenneth Salyer, who brought the twins to Dallas for separation through his nonprofit World Craniofacial Foundation.
Salyer says Mohamed is on target developmentally, but Ahmed is still a bit behind.
Dallas youth's motivational speech a YouTube hit
Dalton Sherman is not your ordinary motivational speaker. At age 11, he's a talking testament to the difference a teacher's belief can make in a student's success.
The child gave an inspirational back-to-school speech last year that brought some 20,000 Dallas schoolteachers to their feet in thunderous applause.
The nine-minute address reverberated nationwide, thanks to YouTube. Now, Dalton gets speaking requests from across the nation and positive e-mails and posts from around the world.
Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres have featured the Dallas dynamo on their talk shows. He's even hobnobbed with Donald Trump, poet Maya Angelou and Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
On Friday he'll be the subject of former "first daughter" Jenna Bush Hager's broadcasting debut on NBC's "Today" show. In his words, "It's fun to speak in different places."