0:00:06 > 0:00:11Lieutenant Stuart Alexander died an immediate death. He was struck
0:00:11 > 0:00:13and killed by a suspect fleeing in an SUV.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21When they finally let me see him in the hospital he asked me,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25"Mom, he said that I killed a police officer."
0:00:25 > 0:00:27I said, "Yes, baby, he died."
0:00:27 > 0:00:32And tears just started running down his eyes.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35He said, "Mom, I couldn't see."
0:00:37 > 0:00:41How could he have done it on purpose? He was trying to get to me.
0:00:41 > 0:00:44He wasn't trying to...kill anybody.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47He was trying to get to me so that they could arrest him there with me.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54It all began when an officer spotted Daniel Lee Lopez driving
0:00:54 > 0:00:57dangerously and tried to pull him over.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Lopez appeared very agitated and when the officer attempted to detain
0:01:01 > 0:01:05him, the suspect attacked the officer, punching him several times.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09After a brief struggle, the suspect re-entered his vehicle and sped away.
0:01:11 > 0:01:16It was my husband's birthday and so when the phone rang, I thought
0:01:16 > 0:01:19that's what they were calling about.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22He told me, "Mom, I'm being chased by the police."
0:01:22 > 0:01:26I said, "Daniel, be quiet, it's not true."
0:01:27 > 0:01:31All of a sudden I just heard all these sirens and I said, "No,
0:01:31 > 0:01:33"Daniel, no, you need to pull over, you need to pull over."
0:01:33 > 0:01:36He said, "Mom, if I pull over now they're going to kill me,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38"they're going to kill me."
0:01:38 > 0:01:41I finally convinced him to come to my house
0:01:41 > 0:01:43so that they could arrest him there.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45And he wouldn't be hurt.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50We got up on to State Highway 358...
0:01:53 > 0:01:55..and his speed started to increase.
0:01:57 > 0:02:03Once we started approaching Agnes, Daniel Lopez made a directional change to the right.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06I was directly behind Daniel Lopez's vehicle at the time.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09I could see Lieutenant Alexander out in front of me.
0:02:09 > 0:02:12We were approaching him. We were probably doing right around 80mph.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15The distance was closed fairly quickly.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18Police say Alexander was in the grass along the shoulder laying
0:02:18 > 0:02:22out a spike strip which deflates the tyres of cars being pursued.
0:02:22 > 0:02:27And I remember thinking to myself, you know, "Holy crap, he's going to hit the Lieutenant."
0:02:27 > 0:02:29And then all the sudden it was like, boom.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32Daniel Lopez swerved to the right and struck Lieutenant Alexander.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37It was a direct, purposeful movement to the right.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40I see Lieutenant Alexander flying through the air,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43his legs flailing and his body flailing.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47And then I remember him laying in that grassy areas right there.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53I knew that we were going to chase him, then,
0:02:53 > 0:02:54till the end of the earth.
0:02:54 > 0:03:00Moments later, the SUV was boxed in and after ramming several police
0:03:00 > 0:03:04cars, officers opened fire, hitting him twice in the shoulder and arm.
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Bleeding from his wounds, Lopez was then finally handcuffed
0:03:08 > 0:03:12and put in the back of a patrol car while other officers stood by.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27I want everybody to understand we will do everything possible
0:03:27 > 0:03:30to make sure that somebody like this is sent away for ever.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36I have received numerous letters from Daniel.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41The majority of them have been, "Why is it taking so long?"
0:03:45 > 0:03:48I see things way different than people back here.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51If I would have never tried fleeing, the officer would have never died.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53So it's partly my fault, too, you know,
0:03:53 > 0:03:56even though it was never intentional, it was partly my fault
0:03:56 > 0:03:58and, you know, I'm just being a man
0:03:58 > 0:04:02and I'm going to accept my punishment and I'm ready.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33It is the first time in my career as a judge that
0:04:33 > 0:04:36I have set the execution date
0:04:36 > 0:04:39so, yes, it's a big moment -
0:04:39 > 0:04:41one that is not taken lightly.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50The reason there has been no post-conviction appeals is
0:04:50 > 0:04:54because Daniel Lopez waived them.
0:04:54 > 0:05:00Sometimes some of these appeals, the post-conviction appeals, will take
0:05:00 > 0:05:0515 to 25 years and people are on death row for that length of time.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11Daniel has consistently maintained that he does not want to
0:05:11 > 0:05:15prolong the appellate process.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18He wanted to waive all of the appeals,
0:05:18 > 0:05:21"Just get me up there to the Polunsky Unit and execute me."
0:05:24 > 0:05:29If there was an indication that he had a change of mind,
0:05:29 > 0:05:34I would immediately appoint an attorney to file whatever
0:05:34 > 0:05:39that would be necessary to at least start that process.
0:05:40 > 0:05:43So, would the execution go ahead?
0:05:43 > 0:05:46At that point, I would imagine there would be a motion to stay
0:05:46 > 0:05:49the execution to pursue this matter.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02As the days get closer, it gets harder and harder.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07He just expects me to go there and be happy, you know,
0:06:07 > 0:06:12and be there and be happy because he's finally going to be with God
0:06:12 > 0:06:18but I am, you know, glad that he is, you know, not going to be
0:06:18 > 0:06:21suffering any more but I'm not glad that he's going to be gone.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27He doesn't know that I'm depressed.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29He doesn't know that I don't go nowhere.
0:06:29 > 0:06:32He doesn't know that I don't do anything.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34He thinks I'm the same...
0:06:34 > 0:06:35as when he went in.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39You know, I've told him, "We can still fight this,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42"We can still fight this," but he says no.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47He says, "Mom, you have a chance, I don't.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50"I don't have a chance."
0:06:50 > 0:06:53He just has that in his head that there's no way out.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Some moms might judge me for saying this
0:06:59 > 0:07:03but sometimes I think maybe Daniel should have died that night.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05It would have been easier, you know,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09for him to die that night... because...
0:07:09 > 0:07:12You know, having to go through this, it's like you're having
0:07:12 > 0:07:17a funeral over and over and over and over again, you know. It's...
0:07:18 > 0:07:22It's just taking the life out of me, you know.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27And I don't know how much more of this I can take.
0:07:41 > 0:07:44'I just see the appeal process as a waste of time.'
0:07:44 > 0:07:47I see people back here with way more greater issues than me
0:07:47 > 0:07:50and they are still back or they've been executed already.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54I don't want to give myself false hope, give my family false hope...
0:07:54 > 0:07:59And also prolong this, prolong this...my time here, right?
0:07:59 > 0:08:01The victim's family wants me dead, you know what I'm saying?
0:08:01 > 0:08:05They want me dead. Their closure is going to be when I'm dead.
0:08:05 > 0:08:09That's what they want, so my side, my family, it hurts them
0:08:09 > 0:08:13to see me here. Day in and day out, you know what I'm saying? When am I going to get executed?
0:08:13 > 0:08:17Am I going to get executed this month, this year, next year?
0:08:17 > 0:08:21I want them to move on. I want them to carry on their lives instead of being stuck back
0:08:21 > 0:08:24six, six and a half years ago at this incident and keep thinking,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27"Oh, my son's on death row." "Oh, my brother's on death row."
0:08:27 > 0:08:30"My baby daddy is on death row," you know what I'm saying?
0:08:30 > 0:08:32I'm seeing the bigger picture, they're not,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35they're just seeing me getting killed, that's it.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47We're going out to the site where he was killed.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51And, er...to me, that's where his soul left the Earth.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00Any child that's raised in Texas knows that if you kill a cop
0:09:00 > 0:09:03they're are going to go after you with the death penalty.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05I mean, that's just hand-in-hand.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12As a society, a society needs rules, they need laws
0:09:12 > 0:09:17to exist as a safe society,
0:09:17 > 0:09:20I mean, this is someone who took someone else's life so they,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24you know, have a total disregard for another human being's life.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28You can't have people like that walking the streets, I mean,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31you just can't.
0:09:34 > 0:09:40On the night Stuart was killed we go to Spohn Memorial Hospital.
0:09:40 > 0:09:46I hear my son, "Mom, Mom, Mom!" and I look up and my son's
0:09:46 > 0:09:51running towards me and he has the hospital chaplain right behind him
0:09:51 > 0:09:54and he's screaming, "He's gone, he's gone," and I go, "Who's gone?"
0:09:54 > 0:09:57And he goes, "Dad. He's dead."
0:09:57 > 0:10:01I said, "No, he's not, I didn't get here, he's not."
0:10:01 > 0:10:03And he goes, "Mom, he's gone."
0:10:05 > 0:10:09When I walked in the room, he was in there
0:10:09 > 0:10:12and so I laid my head on his chest.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14I was talking to him.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17And I asked him not to leave me.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37It's been over six years
0:10:37 > 0:10:42but that's rather quick actually for an execution.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47I have nightmares now that we're going to get there
0:10:47 > 0:10:52and he still has the right up to the last second to say,
0:10:52 > 0:10:55"No, I change my mind, I want my appeals." He can do that.
0:10:55 > 0:10:59And maybe that's what he has planned, I don't know.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05I'm struggling, you know, this is not easy by any means.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10At least I will know that he's... he can't hurt anybody any more
0:11:10 > 0:11:12and that's what my husband would want, too.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14So...
0:11:50 > 0:11:54I like to, any time we follow a major pleading for anybody,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57take it up there as soon as possible and go through it with them
0:11:57 > 0:12:00if that's something that they want, you know, and answer any questions.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03I think he'll probably say, "Thanks,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06"I appreciate you running this up here.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08"You know, I hope that you're not successful with it."
0:12:08 > 0:12:10And I'll say, "Yeah, I know."
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Since the trial he's just been trying to drop or give up
0:12:15 > 0:12:20all of his appeals so the State can just immediately execute him.
0:12:20 > 0:12:22I think he's concerned about...
0:12:22 > 0:12:25what, you know, his mom feels going through this
0:12:25 > 0:12:27and doesn't want to prolong any of this for her
0:12:27 > 0:12:31and I think he's concerned about what it's like for his children to
0:12:31 > 0:12:33grow up with a dad on death row.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37I think he'd express to you that he's frustrated it's taken so long.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45You know, if he's competent to make that decision then that's,
0:12:45 > 0:12:47you know, as much as someone like me might disagree with it,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50that's a decision that he's entitled to make.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54If your decision to waive your appeals is a product of mental
0:12:54 > 0:12:57illness, then a court should find that you're not competent to
0:12:57 > 0:13:01make that decision to waive your appeals and so that's what
0:13:01 > 0:13:04all the pleadings that we filed for Daniel are about, really.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08Most guys want to fight.
0:13:08 > 0:13:10They want to raise any good claims that they have
0:13:10 > 0:13:13and I think Daniel has some great claims, especially related to the
0:13:13 > 0:13:18fact that he didn't intentionally or knowingly kill Officer Alexander.
0:13:18 > 0:13:24I wish that Daniel Lopez was... was on board with that.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28That he felt that his life was something that would deserve that.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31That his life was something that's worth fighting for.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36We've got the execution date in place.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39And I think it's probably very likely that that'll be the day that
0:13:39 > 0:13:43we learn whether or not the Supreme Court grants our petition, you know.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47And if that's...if they do grant the petition, then Mr Lopez won't be
0:13:47 > 0:13:51executed that day, but if they deny it, then I think he'll
0:13:51 > 0:13:54probably be executed after six o'clock on August 12th.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02You know, my daughter, right now, is back in my life
0:14:02 > 0:14:05and, you know, the more she grows up the more attached she gets with me, right,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09and the more we see each other, the more we bond and so to
0:14:09 > 0:14:13prolong it would just strengthen our bond and when it's finally time
0:14:13 > 0:14:16for me to go, it's going to hurt way worse than it is now, right?
0:14:16 > 0:14:20It's just...it's just going to be so much painful for both of us
0:14:20 > 0:14:23and maybe other kids out there start coming to see me
0:14:23 > 0:14:25it's going to be so much painful
0:14:25 > 0:14:28and I'm going to be taken away from them than I would be now.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31Like one of my kids, she is only, like, five and a half years old
0:14:31 > 0:14:34and she don't even know me, you know what I'm saying?
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Maybe within three years she will start to get to know me,
0:14:36 > 0:14:38you don't think that's going to hurt her?
0:14:38 > 0:14:43I think the best time for me to go is now instead of delaying the pain for all of us.
0:14:51 > 0:14:57One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Do you know why he went to prison?
0:15:28 > 0:15:31- Yeah.- Why did he go?
0:15:42 > 0:15:47I feel like he thinks that nobody cares for him.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50He feels lonely.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52You know, he told me that he loves for us
0:15:52 > 0:15:54to go visit him more often and...
0:15:56 > 0:16:00..I'm trying so hard to...
0:16:00 > 0:16:03to get him to appeal...appeal it.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06I mean, at least for her sake...
0:16:06 > 0:16:08you know,
0:16:08 > 0:16:09so he could see her grow.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15I regret not coming before.
0:16:15 > 0:16:21I feel like the reason why he wants to go along with this execution -
0:16:21 > 0:16:23I wasn't there for him.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31When I was about 18, we got together.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34And...
0:16:34 > 0:16:36Mariah came along.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42And then we ended up splitting apart for, you know, little issues we had.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Daniel loved me a lot, I know that.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50I want to get that appeal.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53When you want something, when you put that energy out there,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57you're going to get it. I'm putting that energy out there.
0:16:57 > 0:16:58So...
0:16:58 > 0:17:00I'm going to get it.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28Lord, we come to you today. Pray for Daniel Lee Lopez.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32He knows where he's going, Lord, he knows he's a child of God,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36that's why he asked all appeals to be stopped.
0:17:36 > 0:17:38But, Lord, I pray for his mother.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Oh, Lord, I'm praying for his mother and for his sister.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45This is so difficult for them, Lord.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50I pray that the people in this church will be praying for the next
0:17:50 > 0:17:53month, the last month of his life. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01He asked me to please support his position of wanting to die.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05I was shocked. I didn't know that he would ask me.
0:18:05 > 0:18:09So I said, "Well, Daniel, I have to go home and pray about it
0:18:09 > 0:18:10"and I'll let you know.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13"I can't say right now one way or the other."
0:18:13 > 0:18:15So I did, I came home and I prayed about it and prayed about it
0:18:15 > 0:18:20and God was saying, "It's OK. You can support him."
0:18:20 > 0:18:21And I think I'm the only one.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Joyce wants Daniel to live no matter what, she really does.
0:18:29 > 0:18:33But after talking to Daniel and listening to Daniel
0:18:33 > 0:18:35and, because I feel like I know Corpus Christi
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and I know the police force, there is a respect
0:18:38 > 0:18:40for the police force here.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43And because this was a well-respected policeman,
0:18:43 > 0:18:48I don't believe he would ever get acquitted.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50I don't believe they would ever find him innocent.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54If I thought involuntary manslaughter, then
0:18:54 > 0:18:59I would just be up there getting him to fight, fight, fight but I don't
0:18:59 > 0:19:03believe that our police force is ever going to allow that to happen.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Maybe the only thing they would change it to is life without
0:19:08 > 0:19:12chance of parole and he does not want that.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39The death penalty, people say that Texas uses it too much sometimes
0:19:39 > 0:19:41and I tell them,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45"Man, we kind of narrow the cases.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47"Very few cases can even get the death penalty.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49And they're the worst of the worst
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and Daniel Lopez was the one the death penalty was designed for.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55We can't have people like that in our community.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01From the very start when I first saw him in jail...
0:20:01 > 0:20:04he said, "Mom, I'm not going to fight this."
0:20:04 > 0:20:06He said, "Once you kill a police officer,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08"you're not never coming out.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10"They're never letting you out of jail."
0:20:10 > 0:20:13Two police officers say I intentionally swerved towards him.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16When there are police officers testifying against somebody
0:20:16 > 0:20:18like me, you know, I'm just a lowlife drug dealer
0:20:18 > 0:20:24and a lowlife criminal, right? So when the jury's seen this,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27they're seeing this lowlife criminal compared to these dedicated
0:20:27 > 0:20:30police officers testifying, who are you going to believe?
0:20:30 > 0:20:32You're going to believe the police officers.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35I'm responsible for giving a wrong reaction.
0:20:35 > 0:20:36I'm responsible for fleeing.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39I'm responsible for being part of his death.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43I'm responsible for his death, that's what I'm responsible for
0:20:43 > 0:20:46but I'm not responsible for intentionally killing him.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49It was pretty easy to show the motive to the jury.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52After getting all these officers, chasing him,
0:20:52 > 0:20:54fighting with the officers, running him off the road,
0:20:54 > 0:20:56here's one laying right in front of him
0:20:56 > 0:20:58and he's got the capacity to stop
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Daniel Lopez with these spike strips.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05To me, he was just an officer that was in his way to escape.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07If you make that decision, you make that decision.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09It doesn't matter how long it takes.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Did I think when he started the fight with the police officer
0:21:11 > 0:21:13out on the street that he planned to
0:21:13 > 0:21:15run over Lieutenant Stuart Alexander?
0:21:15 > 0:21:16Probably not.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18But when you're talking about something that
0:21:18 > 0:21:21happened like that, intent can rise in just a second.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25I think it was the...
0:21:26 > 0:21:31..the testimony from eyewitnesses from
0:21:31 > 0:21:33the Corpus Christi policemen.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38He had three lanes of highway to go round this cop, to miss the cop
0:21:38 > 0:21:42but he just kept going to the right, the right, the right.
0:21:42 > 0:21:43Poor man.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Tried to do his duty, got run over.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51That ain't right.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57You know, looking at the kid in the courtroom,
0:21:57 > 0:21:59he didn't look like a monster but they made him...
0:21:59 > 0:22:03You know, when they tell you the history, yeah, he was.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06This isn't a one-time person doing a one-time thing.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09He's got a track record of other crimes.
0:22:09 > 0:22:14He had abused women before, he had sold drugs, he had drugs in his car.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18It was a monumental task for the defence to overcome.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21We, the jury, find you, Daniel Lopez,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24guilty of capital murder of Lieutenant Alexander.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28And it took us about 30 minutes.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41I think he firmly believed that he would be found guilty
0:22:41 > 0:22:45of capital murder in light of the fact that it was a police officer.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49He analysed what his life would be like, he did not want to
0:22:49 > 0:22:52live in a penitentiary for the rest of his life
0:22:52 > 0:22:55and the only alternative was death and, from the beginning,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59consistently, this young man wanted the death penalty.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05I mean, I tried to point out to him that there is life
0:23:05 > 0:23:07in a penitentiary.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11And it may not be the life he wanted but there's life there.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15And good things come out of some people who are in the penitentiary.
0:23:16 > 0:23:17He didn't buy that.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23They subpoenaed me to testify.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26He says, "Mom, I have to get the death penalty,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28"I have to make sure I get the death penalty.
0:23:28 > 0:23:30"If you go up there and you try to defend me
0:23:30 > 0:23:34"and they give me life, it's going to be on your conscience
0:23:34 > 0:23:38"that I'm going to be suffering, living life behind bars."
0:23:38 > 0:23:39So I...
0:23:39 > 0:23:41The words wouldn't come out.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43When I went up there to testify...
0:23:44 > 0:23:46..I couldn't defend him.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52I'm a lawyer and I have a job to do
0:23:52 > 0:23:55and my job was to save his life if I could,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58despite whether or not he wanted me to do it.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01And I made it real clear to him that that's what I was going to do
0:24:01 > 0:24:04and he was not happy with that at all.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08You know, Daniel was almost as much my opponent in the courtroom
0:24:08 > 0:24:10as Mark Skurka was.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13They were both trying to get Daniel Lopez the death penalty.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15And they both did a good job.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21I watched him for two weeks turn around and smile at me
0:24:21 > 0:24:24like it was nothing.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26You know, mock me.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30As soon as they put my husband's picture up, he laughed out loud.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33I mean, he laughed...out loud.
0:24:35 > 0:24:39I think that having Mr Lopez right there in front of us
0:24:39 > 0:24:43in the courtroom where we could see him really hurt the defence's case.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48When we saw him smirking through most of the trial, smiling,
0:24:48 > 0:24:50thinking some of these things were funny.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54He didn't seem to be remorseful about anything he had done.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58He was a jackass in the courtroom.
0:24:58 > 0:25:04I saw this thing like, "OK, big deal, ran over a cop, big deal."
0:25:04 > 0:25:08All this terror and destruction he had left in his wake,
0:25:08 > 0:25:10he didn't seem to be too perturbed by it
0:25:10 > 0:25:14and I think that was his mind-set his whole life.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Another thing to bear in mind, too, is they did,
0:25:17 > 0:25:22before we went to trial, offer to let him plea to a life sentence.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24He had the chance to avoid being executed
0:25:24 > 0:25:27and had no interest in it at all.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30I think he laughed when I told him they were offering him
0:25:30 > 0:25:35the life sentence and that he ought to take it and he had...
0:25:35 > 0:25:38It wasn't like he thought about it, I mean,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40it was not something he was considering at all.
0:25:40 > 0:25:45I feel like I'm paying for...for...for...
0:25:45 > 0:25:49the crime that they convicted me of. I feel like I'm paying for that.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53And I feel like I'm overpaying for what really happened.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57I don't blame nobody. This situation is not a blame game.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01I got myself here, the only person I can blame is me.
0:26:01 > 0:26:03So...
0:26:03 > 0:26:07To me, the whole case turned on this fact
0:26:07 > 0:26:11and if it had been hammered with an expert saying the same thing -
0:26:11 > 0:26:16here's a 21-year-old, he has got a ton of police cars chasing him,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18I mean, the sirens, you know,
0:26:18 > 0:26:23huge chaos, you can imagine the tension, OK?
0:26:23 > 0:26:29They lay out the strips, Daniel avoids the strips, OK?
0:26:29 > 0:26:33He is caught up in the scene and he avoids the strips.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37The police officer then decides to do a second strip.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41That all came out in the courtroom, OK? They throw the second strip.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Daniel avoided again but, this time, he went up on the median
0:26:45 > 0:26:47and there was a police officer there.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Now, did he intentionally - "I see a police officer,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52"I'm going to kill that police officer,"
0:26:52 > 0:26:55or did he do what he did before being chased by all
0:26:55 > 0:26:59these police officers, boom, he avoided it?
0:26:59 > 0:27:02To me, that's the whole case right there.
0:27:04 > 0:27:05It's the whole case.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11But Daniel got the punishment he wanted.
0:27:11 > 0:27:12I think he would have...
0:27:12 > 0:27:14I don't know what Daniel would have done
0:27:14 > 0:27:17if the jury had said life without parole.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Because he was so emphatic so early on...
0:27:24 > 0:27:28..that he wanted to be executed.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30Because he didn't want to live like that.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56He was aggravated this time, more so than normal,
0:27:56 > 0:27:58about the documents being filed.
0:27:58 > 0:27:59It was a very short meeting.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05He was definitely a lot more nervous,
0:28:05 > 0:28:07a lot more on edge than I'm used to seeing him.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10I think it's probably just because, you know, it's getting closer
0:28:10 > 0:28:11and closer to August 12th.
0:28:16 > 0:28:21I just really think that he's wanted to die since he was a little kid.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25You know, we've got medical records that have become a part of,
0:28:25 > 0:28:28you know, the pleadings related to him
0:28:28 > 0:28:31trying to waive proceedings that demonstrate that he's been
0:28:31 > 0:28:34trying to kill himself since he was ten years old.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39And I think that his trying to waive this appeal right now is just him
0:28:39 > 0:28:42still trying to kill himself, you know.
0:28:42 > 0:28:4620 years later, 18 years later from the first time he tried to.
0:28:46 > 0:28:50When he was nine years old, he just went to his mom's bathroom
0:28:50 > 0:28:51and took 20 pills.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54I don't think they ever figured out what the 20 pills were
0:28:54 > 0:28:56but he was trying to kill himself then.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00Months after that, she found him in a bathtub holding a knife
0:29:00 > 0:29:02up to his wrists.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05You know, there's been at least two different occasions when
0:29:05 > 0:29:08he was a teenager when he tried to kill himself with poisonous snakes.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10I mean, that's what his childhood was like.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13You know, just a deeply, deeply troubled boy.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24My biggest regret is giving them to their dad.
0:29:24 > 0:29:26That is my biggest regret.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32I was pregnant with Daniel when I left Rick.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35And we didn't see him again for four years.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37And then, for some reason, Rick came back into our life
0:29:37 > 0:29:40and he kept nagging and nagging, "Give me the kids, give me the kids,
0:29:40 > 0:29:42"they'll be better off, you can go to school,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45"you can get a better job."
0:29:45 > 0:29:48I've been disabled since I was 20 and I was having to walk them
0:29:48 > 0:29:52to school in the cold and the rain and, well,
0:29:52 > 0:29:55dummy me, I trusted him and...
0:29:55 > 0:29:58I signed the papers but I didn't know I was signing them over,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01I thought it was joint custody.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03But it wasn't joint custody.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07It was just, you know, him having custody and I had visitation rights.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13I didn't find out till years later that he had been, you know,
0:30:13 > 0:30:15abusing them and abusing them and abusing them.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18And every time they would tell me something, I would take them to CPS,
0:30:18 > 0:30:19but the kids wouldn't talk,
0:30:19 > 0:30:21cos they didn't want to hurt their father.
0:30:21 > 0:30:22They didn't want to see him behind bars.
0:30:22 > 0:30:26They didn't want to...you know...
0:30:26 > 0:30:28hurt him in any way, cos they loved...
0:30:28 > 0:30:30You know...they loved him.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36As far as rough life, I had the worst one.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38I've been through hell.
0:30:38 > 0:30:39Maybe I'm carrying that...
0:30:39 > 0:30:41that anger, you know, the anger.
0:30:41 > 0:30:42The anger.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47When I get mad, I go to the back and...
0:30:47 > 0:30:49start hitting the tree, or whatever.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51I cut myself.
0:30:51 > 0:30:52Just...
0:30:52 > 0:30:54Not hurt nobody, you know.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56Not to hurt nobody, you know.
0:30:57 > 0:30:59I was strict, yeah, I was strict.
0:30:59 > 0:31:02But I was strict for them not to be messing up in life.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04But every time they were straightened out,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07they'd go to Mom, they come back backwards.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09They hated me, they wish I was dead.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12I mean, whoa, you know.
0:31:12 > 0:31:13That's pretty bad.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20A couple of years ago when Daniel was trying to drop all his appeals
0:31:20 > 0:31:23and his father was trying to make him, you know,
0:31:23 > 0:31:25the lawyers pick the appeals up,
0:31:25 > 0:31:28and Daniel said that that was just making him get more time in jail.
0:31:30 > 0:31:31And he sent me a letter
0:31:31 > 0:31:35and told me to find his father and give him the letter.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38And that's when I found out all the stuff he had done to him
0:31:38 > 0:31:40when he was little.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42I... I got the letter somewhere.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46I said, you know what, "What are you talking about?"
0:31:46 > 0:31:48I mean, yeah, you're down.
0:31:48 > 0:31:50Yeah, I used to spank you.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52When I... Before I got locked up.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54The time-outs?
0:31:54 > 0:31:57I mean, that's a new one for me.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00Tie them down? No.
0:32:00 > 0:32:01INTERVIEWER: I think it was tied...
0:32:01 > 0:32:05He said there was some cables when they used to wet the bed...
0:32:05 > 0:32:06with electricity?
0:32:06 > 0:32:08No. No, no, no, no.
0:32:08 > 0:32:11My gosh, that's insane!
0:32:11 > 0:32:14That's... I was a POW.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17If I was in war, yes, I would do it. If I had a prisoner.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19But my kids were not prisoners.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21They were on my side.
0:32:21 > 0:32:25Even though Teri tried to separate that, I never gave up on that side.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30I've read the psychological reports, he... He gave me copies.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34There are a lot of things that went on,
0:32:34 > 0:32:37that we hoped the children would never, ever,
0:32:37 > 0:32:38ever have to go through.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44And the trial, you know, they wanted to put his parents up on the stand
0:32:44 > 0:32:47and make this psychological report known.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49And he just refused.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52He didn't want...all that.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57Just anything brought out about his family life.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00He said, "I was an adult when I did this.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02"I was an adult.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05"And I was responsible for myself."
0:33:07 > 0:33:10We used to be best friends out there, me and my mom.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12Every now and then she would just call me, pick me up,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15and we would go to the pier and just walk down the pier together.
0:33:15 > 0:33:17We had fun.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22INTERVIEWER: And your dad?
0:33:25 > 0:33:26Um...
0:33:30 > 0:33:31I really don't know.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34I mean, I love him, and you know...
0:33:34 > 0:33:37All his kids really forsaken him and I was the only one.
0:33:37 > 0:33:38I still had love for him,
0:33:38 > 0:33:41no matter how he treated us when we were young.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43I've always tried to be there for him,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46but I guess I didn't do it enough, that's why...
0:33:46 > 0:33:48That's why he don't want to come see me, I guess. I don't know.
0:33:48 > 0:33:49So...
0:33:54 > 0:33:57# I opened the gates up
0:33:57 > 0:34:01# Hey, screw, did you miss me?
0:34:01 > 0:34:05# Jimmy, I see that you've found a new friend
0:34:08 > 0:34:14# Warden, come down here and kiss me hello
0:34:14 > 0:34:19# Cos I'm back home in Huntsville again. #
0:34:21 > 0:34:23- RADIO:- Thank you for tuning in tonight.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26You are listening to The Prison Show on 90.1 QPFT,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29let's go to Ashley from Corpus Christi,
0:34:29 > 0:34:30calling for the Polunsky Unit. Ashley?
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Hi, this is for Daniel Lopez.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36I love you and Mariah wants to say something to you.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38Hi, Dad. I miss you.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40I love you.
0:34:40 > 0:34:43I love you, and...love you forever.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45- OK, is that it?- Yes, ma'am.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47All right, thank you for calling.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49Let's go to Michelle from Austin, calling for...
0:34:49 > 0:34:53The last time we saw him, "So, Dad, when are you getting out?"
0:34:53 > 0:35:00And he just looked at me, and his eyes kind of got a little watery.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02He said, "Why don't you ask Mommy when I get out?"
0:35:04 > 0:35:08I could read him, and he don't want the execution.
0:35:08 > 0:35:09He don't.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11On one of the letters he wrote me,
0:35:11 > 0:35:13he said that he regrets it.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16He regrets asking, er...
0:35:17 > 0:35:18..for the death penalty, you know.
0:35:18 > 0:35:23And I feel like he really don't... He really doesn't want it.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27I feel... I really feel deep down inside that he don't want it.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31He said he loves me so much.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33Prove it to me. Appeal it.
0:35:33 > 0:35:37Your kids love you and I think he owes it to them.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41It's up to him, he says.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44He says all he needs to do is write one letter to a judge.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49I'm going to call you tomorrow
0:35:49 > 0:35:51and I'm going to tell you he's going to appeal it.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56And...then everything will fall in place.
0:35:59 > 0:36:03These past three weeks has been very, very difficult for me.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05You know, I'm sometimes confused with myself.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07Should I or should I not? Should I, should I not?
0:36:07 > 0:36:09What's best with these decisions?
0:36:09 > 0:36:12If I do this, would it be best for everybody? Or if I do this...
0:36:12 > 0:36:14You know, so I'm like kind of confused, man.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19INTERVIEWER: Who's been coming to visit you these last few days?
0:36:19 > 0:36:21Ashley. Yeah.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26Things are making it difficult for me.
0:36:26 > 0:36:27The decision I made.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Now that she's started to come visit me,
0:36:32 > 0:36:34she's telling me to appeal it.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38So, it makes me very confused and undecided.
0:36:38 > 0:36:40And it makes it a lot harder.
0:36:40 > 0:36:41It's...
0:36:44 > 0:36:47She just wants me to be here a little bit longer for some reason.
0:36:47 > 0:36:49I know it's for my daughter.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34So, what do I need to do for the next two weeks to stay sane?
0:37:34 > 0:37:35Try to stay busy.
0:37:35 > 0:37:40Cos there's nothing more you can do to prepare.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43We didn't do this to this person, he did it himself.
0:37:43 > 0:37:44OK?
0:37:44 > 0:37:46We're not killing him.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48The State is killing him.
0:37:48 > 0:37:53Is it fair, what we go through, what they put us through?
0:37:53 > 0:37:57Probably for ten years, I was not going to go.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59And, then, for some reason,
0:37:59 > 0:38:02the last couple of years before that I just started feeling like,
0:38:02 > 0:38:03"Yeah, I've got to be there.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05"I just have to be there."
0:38:05 > 0:38:09My husband was killed during a domestic violence call,
0:38:09 > 0:38:10along with the girl.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12And he went to go help.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15It took ten years for him to be executed.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19- Yours was a little bit more, right? - It was like... Oh, let me think.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21- It was like 12?- Yeah, 12.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24That's fairly good.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Yeah, and then yours...
0:38:26 > 0:38:27To tell you the truth,
0:38:27 > 0:38:32when I first found out this one was going to be so fast, I felt bad.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34I felt guilty.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36Even though he's given up that appeal process
0:38:36 > 0:38:39and they went ahead and set the execution,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41if they lay him down and he says "Oh, no, I want my appeals,"
0:38:41 > 0:38:43it stops.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46Is this his way of playing a game?
0:38:46 > 0:38:48I've had nightmares of him
0:38:48 > 0:38:52laying down and looking to start laughing, "Ha-ha-ha, never mind."
0:38:52 > 0:38:56You know, I've had horrible nightmares about that.
0:38:56 > 0:39:00We go up there and...
0:39:00 > 0:39:05We're all prepared and sitting in this room.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09And two hours before, he gets to stay.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11That was three years ago.
0:39:11 > 0:39:12He's still sitting there.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16He's still sitting there.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20- So, is he already in there when they bring you guys in?- Yes.
0:39:20 > 0:39:24So, like everybody's ready and then the last minute they bring you in.
0:39:24 > 0:39:27They bring you in and then their family in.
0:39:27 > 0:39:33The wall dividing our room and their room is, like, paper thin.
0:39:33 > 0:39:34- Can he see us?- Yeah.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37- Oh, he can?- If he wants to.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Mine looked back and talked to me.
0:39:41 > 0:39:42He did what?
0:39:42 > 0:39:44He turned around and he said "Jennifer, where you at?"
0:39:44 > 0:39:46Like that.
0:39:46 > 0:39:47What did you say to you?
0:39:47 > 0:39:49He just told me he was sorry
0:39:49 > 0:39:52and he didn't know what a great guy Fabian was.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55I mean, obviously, being there on death row is going to make anybody
0:40:55 > 0:41:00more depressed than they were before they got there.
0:41:00 > 0:41:01Obviously, we'd be devastated.
0:41:01 > 0:41:06Obviously... You know, we'd be depressed about the future.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09Obviously, we'd probably have some of these thoughts.
0:41:12 > 0:41:14But, it's...
0:41:14 > 0:41:16I don't see how you can possibly say, though,
0:41:16 > 0:41:18that he is in the same position as any one of us
0:41:18 > 0:41:21cos he has this long, well-documented history
0:41:21 > 0:41:24of being depressed, of thinking he doesn't have any hope.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29And I think it's impossible to say that, for him,
0:41:29 > 0:41:32getting to this point, didn't involve all of that history.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37I don't think it's right, you know.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40I think that if it happens next week, it's going to just be
0:41:40 > 0:41:42a guy who's wanted to kill himself
0:41:42 > 0:41:45since he was at least ten years old...
0:41:46 > 0:41:47..who was able to...
0:41:48 > 0:41:51..shut down any chance of appealing, you know,
0:41:51 > 0:41:53to get the State to do help him do that.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55I'm never going to see this as anything differently.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09He didn't really want to talk about the appeal.
0:42:10 > 0:42:16He said that his lawyer tried to...
0:42:16 > 0:42:18get him to appeal it, too.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20And...
0:42:20 > 0:42:21He said no. He didn't want to.
0:42:22 > 0:42:27He thinks that once he's gone, then the pain stops.
0:42:27 > 0:42:29Which it doesn't. And it's not.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31And it won't. And never will.
0:42:36 > 0:42:37It's too soon, it's too fast.
0:42:39 > 0:42:45I really don't know if it's for him, or for the family.
0:42:45 > 0:42:46But it ain't for me.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50And it ain't for me, and it ain't for Mariah.
0:42:51 > 0:42:52So...
0:42:56 > 0:43:00He's like, "Now you're finally coming to see me."
0:43:02 > 0:43:05And...when he told me goodbye, that was it.
0:43:33 > 0:43:35I don't know how to explain it.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39I love him, cos he was always there for me.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42I love him because he was always there for my son.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47But...
0:43:47 > 0:43:48I don't know.
0:43:48 > 0:43:50It's...
0:43:50 > 0:43:52I hate him, cos he's leaving us.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59He's always talking about, you know, Isaac and Mariah.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01Ashley's Mariah.
0:44:01 > 0:44:02How he loves them.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06But he doesn't want them to get attached.
0:44:06 > 0:44:12He goes, he could appeal it, go another three years, four years.
0:44:12 > 0:44:16I was like, yeah, those three, four years, they could get to know you.
0:44:17 > 0:44:20I don't want him to get the wrong image of his dad.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Cos he thinks when people are locked up, they're bad.
0:44:25 > 0:44:27My son still doesn't know.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30You know, he wants to come back again and see him.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35The next time you see him, it's going to be at his funeral.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45It'll be his mother and his sister.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48And Ashley, and Joyce, and me there.
0:44:50 > 0:44:51It's not going to be easy
0:44:51 > 0:44:56and I wouldn't have wanted to be there, except that he asked for us to be there.
0:44:56 > 0:44:59He said, "Ya'll my godmothers."
0:44:59 > 0:45:02You're there every month, you've done that for three years
0:45:02 > 0:45:07and, you know, I just want you to be there to know that I love y'all.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12It's just so much to think about.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15We know what's going to happen...
0:45:15 > 0:45:17whether we like it or not.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19We know this is what he wants.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22We know we're going to see him in heaven,
0:45:22 > 0:45:25but it's always the hardest on the ones that are left here.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27Amen.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30You know, he's going to a better place...
0:45:30 > 0:45:33- but we're left here...- Yes.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36- ..to miss him. - And to deal with the pain.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40To deal with the pain of knowing we won't be coming to see him
0:45:40 > 0:45:43every month any more.
0:45:43 > 0:45:45I told him that I have cried.
0:45:45 > 0:45:50I told him that I had cried when we first started practising
0:45:50 > 0:45:54a song that our choir was singing and I knew it was for him.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00And he said, "I don't want you to cry."
0:46:00 > 0:46:02I said, "I know. I know.
0:46:02 > 0:46:04"It doesn't mean it's not going to happen, though."
0:46:09 > 0:46:14He feels...he truly feels that the best decision
0:46:14 > 0:46:18he can make for the people he loves the most
0:46:18 > 0:46:21is for him to die,
0:46:21 > 0:46:26so that they can move forward and have a happier life.
0:46:28 > 0:46:33And he feels like he is able to do something good by,
0:46:33 > 0:46:37in my words, sacrificing his life.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41His words, for the sake of the people that he loves,
0:46:41 > 0:46:44to be able to move on with their lives.
0:47:00 > 0:47:02Oh! Yah, yah, yah.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09Was a nurse for 25 years, critical care nurse,
0:47:09 > 0:47:13and I spent my career trying to save lives
0:47:13 > 0:47:17and now I'm here witnessing a young life being taken,
0:47:17 > 0:47:20but that's the penalty he has to pay for what he did.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25Erm...
0:47:27 > 0:47:28..yesterday...
0:47:31 > 0:47:33..Stuart and I were supposed to be
0:47:33 > 0:47:36celebrating our 26th wedding anniversary
0:47:36 > 0:47:39and instead, today, I sit here and I have to go witness
0:47:39 > 0:47:42an execution for someone who murdered him.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Stuart will be on my mind.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52He's been on my mind a lot.
0:47:54 > 0:48:00I just want him to be proud of how I've connected myself.
0:48:01 > 0:48:06I just want him to be proud that I followed this through,
0:48:06 > 0:48:09because I know if the shoe were on the other foot,
0:48:09 > 0:48:14if someone had murdered me, he would be there to represent me.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20I've been through six and a half years of hell
0:48:20 > 0:48:22and nothing will ever change that.
0:48:22 > 0:48:25He could say he's sorry now.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29How do you say you're sorry for killing someone?
0:48:29 > 0:48:33Those words don't even go together.
0:48:33 > 0:48:35I...couldn't...
0:48:35 > 0:48:38I don't know if I could ever believe that.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54No matter how angry you are,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57no matter what kind of childhood you have,
0:48:57 > 0:49:00what gives you the right to take someone else's life?
0:49:01 > 0:49:05My husband's life had nothing to do with his childhood.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08My husband's life had nothing to do with his anger.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11He did nothing to him.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15I did nothing to him, my son did nothing to him,
0:49:15 > 0:49:18my sister-in-law did nothing to him.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22Look how many people's lives...
0:49:22 > 0:49:28he has shattered by that one decision that night.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30He had no right.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36Three minutes?
0:49:36 > 0:49:39OK, let's make the best of it, because, you know,
0:49:39 > 0:49:41I know your time's getting close.
0:49:43 > 0:49:44God knows that you're innocent.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57No, but eventually it comes out, mijo.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59Even though it's going to be too late, como quiera,
0:49:59 > 0:50:01we're all going there.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07Because I know your mom's going to be there
0:50:07 > 0:50:09and there's going to be a conflict.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16We'll be praying for you.
0:50:19 > 0:50:21Love you. God bless you.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27I hope they understand, you know, it wasn't no...
0:50:27 > 0:50:30No, no... Nothing for me, you know what I'm saying?
0:50:30 > 0:50:33It was to help move everybody along,
0:50:33 > 0:50:36to stop all this pain going around
0:50:36 > 0:50:38from me being in this situation.
0:50:38 > 0:50:41That's what I hope they understand, right?
0:50:41 > 0:50:46And...I also hope they understand that I truly love all my kids,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49I truly love them all and...
0:50:49 > 0:50:52they can just move on and live a good life, you know what I'm saying?
0:50:52 > 0:50:55I wish they can have another father in their lives that'll be a real
0:50:55 > 0:50:57good father to them so I can just, you know,
0:50:57 > 0:50:58they can get me out the picture
0:50:58 > 0:51:01and they can just forget about me, you know, move on with their lives.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04That's what I want for them to understand, that I want them
0:51:04 > 0:51:07to move on with their lives and that they know that I love them
0:51:07 > 0:51:09and it's simple as that.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18INTERVIEWER: This isn't easy for you, is it?
0:51:19 > 0:51:21No.
0:51:44 > 0:51:45Anything else?
0:51:54 > 0:51:55I just...
0:51:58 > 0:52:02It's not easy because I don't want to leave, I don't want to die.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06I don't want to leave my family, but, you know,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09I think it's just best, so that's why I'm going through this,
0:52:09 > 0:52:10going through with this, right?
0:52:14 > 0:52:16It's OK to cry.
0:52:16 > 0:52:17I... I just...
0:52:19 > 0:52:21That's not me.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25I just... I want to stay strong for my family, right? It's...
0:52:25 > 0:52:29That's how I want, I want them to be too, right? To be strong
0:52:29 > 0:52:31and I just don't...
0:52:31 > 0:52:34There's really...really no point in crying even though people
0:52:34 > 0:52:37want to feel like crying, I feel like crying,
0:52:37 > 0:52:38but there's no point in it, right?
0:52:42 > 0:52:45Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for everything.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Stop all the killing in Texas!
0:53:08 > 0:53:12Tonight will be the 528th execution.
0:53:12 > 0:53:17If execution could curb crime, Texas would be crime free.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19There was an appeal pending in this case.
0:53:19 > 0:53:21Lopez's attorney had argued that he was mentally ill
0:53:21 > 0:53:25and was using the criminal justice system as a means to commit suicide,
0:53:25 > 0:53:28but that argument was overturned by the Supreme Court.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33Lieutenant Alexander's widow just walked into the building behind me.
0:53:33 > 0:53:37Again, the execution is scheduled to take place shortly after 6pm.
0:53:37 > 0:53:38We will be here live at six.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47I saw them open the door and I saw the sunlight.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50For a split second, I didn't know if I could do it.
0:53:50 > 0:53:56I...was telling my legs, "Move. You've got to do this, go."
0:53:59 > 0:54:01I saw them open the other door
0:54:01 > 0:54:03and when they opened the other door,
0:54:03 > 0:54:08they take you right into the witness room and there he was.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11Already strapped on the table.
0:54:14 > 0:54:18Once I entered there, my eyes were on him.
0:54:21 > 0:54:26After he heard the door slam, I could see he was trembling.
0:54:26 > 0:54:28He was scared.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34And then he turned his head and looked at me.
0:54:36 > 0:54:40He was mouthing that he was sorry
0:54:40 > 0:54:43and then he mouthed to me, "It's OK."
0:54:44 > 0:54:46And then I nodded my head.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50And when I nodded my head, he relaxed.
0:54:52 > 0:54:58I felt this weird feeling, like, all of a sudden...
0:54:58 > 0:55:02any hatred or any anger I had towards him was...
0:55:02 > 0:55:04like, lifted at that point.
0:55:05 > 0:55:10He kind of did a little bit of a smile at me
0:55:10 > 0:55:12and then he looked straight up at the ceiling again.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24Once the injection started,
0:55:24 > 0:55:27a lady in the next room and I don't know who it was,
0:55:27 > 0:55:30she had the most beautiful voice
0:55:30 > 0:55:33and she sang Amazing Grace.
0:55:33 > 0:55:37In my head, I was talking to Stuart
0:55:37 > 0:55:40and telling him...
0:55:40 > 0:55:44that I loved him...and...
0:55:44 > 0:55:48and I hoped he can rest in peace now.
0:55:49 > 0:55:54# I once was lost
0:55:54 > 0:56:01# But now I'm found
0:56:01 > 0:56:08# Was blind but now I see. #
0:56:29 > 0:56:32LONE PROTESTER SPEAKS ON MEGAPHONE
0:57:31 > 0:57:36What was so remarkable is,
0:57:36 > 0:57:39at such a young age,
0:57:39 > 0:57:46that he has made a life-death decision and stuck with it.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49Even as death was approaching.
0:57:53 > 0:57:54So young.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57So young.
0:57:58 > 0:58:00So naive.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05Stupid choices. Wrong decisions.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10Killed a police officer.
0:58:12 > 0:58:13And life's valuable.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22Officer Alexander's life was valuable
0:58:22 > 0:58:26and Daniel Lopez's life was valuable
0:58:26 > 0:58:28and both of them are gone.