Published: April 30, 2009 10:08 pm      

Dallas man executed for rape, murder

A Dallas man was executed Thursday night for the rape and murder of a woman 10 years ago.

Derrick Lamone Johnson, 28, was the 14th prisoner sent to the death chamber this year.

Johnson and a companion abducted 25-year-old Latausha Curry of Dallas while she was trying to make a call on a pay phone. The two men took less than $10 from Curry before raping and suffocating her.

Authorities determined the two men were on a two-week crime spree in the Dallas area at the time of the slaying.

Johnson told his mother, who became emotional as she entered the death chamber, to hold tight during his last statement.

“Don’t cry, it’s my situation,” he said. “It’s going to shine on the golden child.”

Lawyers for Johnson went to the U.S. Supreme Court to block the punishment, contending Johnson was mentally disabled and ineligible for execution under high court guidelines.

In their appeals, attorneys argued Johnson’s sentence should be commuted to life, that he was the product of a difficult childhood where both his parents were imprisoned for drug convictions, that he was beaten by relatives who raised him, that he had a history of school suspensions and expulsions beginning in the sixth grade and that IQ testing put him within the range of what the courts have defined as mental retardation.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the argument earlier Thursday, a day after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals turned Johnson down.

Johnson’s mother was the only defense witness at his capital murder trial. She testified he’d been raised by family members after she was sent to prison with a 15-year drug sentence.

Records showed Johnson was arrested two years earlier for robbery, pleaded guilty and received 10 years probation that included a stint in a boot camp. He was released from the camp after 65 days for good behavior.

Johnson was among at least six Texas inmates with execution dates extending into the summer. Scheduled to die next, on May 19, is Michael Lynn Riley, 50, condemned for the slaying of Winona Harris. The victim was stabbed more than 23 years ago during the robbery of a convenience store in Quitman, about 80 miles east of Dallas.

Johnson is the 198th Texas inmate put to death since Rick Perry became governor when George W. Bush resigned following his presidential election in 2000.

Capital punishment opponents from Amnesty International USA and the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty planned to gather for a 200-minute vigil outside the criminal courthouse in Houston Thursday to mark what soon will be the 200th execution of Perry’s tenure. During Bush’s six years as governor, 157 executions were carried out in Texas.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.