A Texas prisoner was executed Thursday evening for killing a San Antonio woman after breaking into her apartment more than 13 years ago. TaiChin Preyor, 46, was put to death after his attorneys failed to convince courts that he had deficient legal help during earlier stages of his appeals and that he deserved a reprieve so his case could be reviewed more fairly, the AP reports. The US Supreme Court rejected his final appeal about 2.5 hours after the six-hour execution window opened at 6pm CDT. Once the justices ruled, Preyor was taken to the death chamber in Huntsville, Texas, for lethal injection. Preyor's execution was Texas' fifth this year and the 16th nationally.
Preyor was convicted in the February 2004 slaying of 24-year-old Jami Tackett, who court records identified as Preyor's drug supplier. She was stabbed and her throat was cut. Testimony showed that in the early hours of Feb. 26, 2004, Preyor, dressed in black and wearing a hood and gloves, kicked in the door of a San Antonio apartment where Tackett lived and kept drugs in a safe. Asked by the prison warden if he had a final statement, Preyor replied, "First and foremost, I'd like to say: Justice has never advanced by taking a human life," and attributed the statement to Coretta Scott King. Then he said that he would love his wife and children "forever and always." "That's it," Preyor said. (More Texas stories.)
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