Last night, May 20, 2025, Texas executed Matthew Johnson. In 2013, a Dallas County jury sentenced him to death for killing Nancy Harris while robbing the convenience store where she worked as a clerk. In his final words, Johnson apologized to relatives of Ms. Harris and asked for forgiveness.
Johnson was the fourth person executed by Texas this year and the second put to death yesterday. Earlier in the morning, Indiana executed Benjamin Ritchie for killing police officer William Toney in 2000. It was Indiana’s second execution in the past 15 years. Eighteen people have been put to death nationwide to date in 2025. Tennessee is scheduled to carry out its first execution in five years on May 22, when Oscar Smith is set to be put to death.
At this time, there are no other executions scheduled in Texas.
Dallas County accounts for 66 executions in Texas since 1982, and 11 people convicted in Dallas County currently remain on death row. Juries in Dallas have sentenced a total of 108 people to death since 1973, though it has been more than six years since a jury there sentenced someone to death.
Background on Matthew Johnson
To be sentenced to death in Texas, jurors must unanimously find that the prosecution has proved, beyond a reasonable doubt, that there is a probability the defendant will constitute a continuing threat to society if he is not executed (known as “future dangerousness”).
In Matthew Johnson’s case, that prediction was false. Any acts of violence in his life were directly tied to his abuse of cocaine, which he did not do while in prison.
Johnson’s drug and alcohol use began when he was as young as seven years old. When he was in middle school, Johnson and his brothers and cousins began using crack cocaine and PCP, which caused him to become manic. According to his friends and family members, Johnson was a completely different person when he was under the influence of drugs.
In 2002, Johnson sought help with overcoming his addiction, but his insurance covered less than two weeks of treatment, and he relapsed shortly after leaving the facility. He suffered another serious relapse ten years later, during which time he killed Mrs. Harris.
Removed from any access to cocaine during his 12 years of incarceration on death row, Johnson was not a threat to anyone. On the contrary, he participated in the faith-based program and maintained close relationships with his wife and three daughters.
Johnson filed a clemency application with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Greg Abbott asking for the commutation of his death sentence to a lesser penalty based on the fact the jury’s prediction that he would be dangerous in the future has proved wrong. The Board voted against recommending a commutation and federal civil rights lawsuit alleging violations of the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was denied by the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 18, 2025.