Wesley Ruiz receives a lethal injection in Texas for the murder of a police officer

• Wesley Ruiz is executed in Texas.
• He was found guilty of fatally shooting a Dallas police officer.
• Ruiz’s lawyers had asked the US Supreme Court to stop the execution.

The state of Texas has executed Hispanic prisoner Wesley Ruiz. Death Row Watcher confirmed  he had received the lethal injection in a tweet: «Wesley Lynn Ruiz has been executed by the state of Texas, as confirmed by those outside the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas. More details to follow.»

Wesley Lynn Ruiz has been on death row since July 16, 2008, awaiting execution for the shooting death of police officer Mark Nix during a pursuit in 2007.

Wesley Ruiz executed in Texas

There is no deadline that is not met or date that is not reached, the saying goes and, in August 2022, a judge in Dallas County informed Wesley Ruiz of the date of his execution. On the morning of this Wednesday, February 1, 2023, Ruiz woke up in his cell on death row at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas.

Guards from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) arrived at noon on Wednesday to transfer Wesley Ruiz from the Polunsky Unit to the Walls Unit to wait until 6:00 p.m. for his execution by lethal injection. Before that, he had to leave his cell clean.

Wesley Ruiz’s crime

In March 2007, Ruiz was on the run from authorities after being spotted driving an apparently stolen vehicle. Dallas Police Senior Corporal Mark Nix tried to break the passenger window of the vehicle after he ended the chase and Ruiz shot him, according to The Associated Press.

The bullet struck Officer Nix’s badge, splintering it. The fragments severed an artery in his neck and the officer died hours later in the hospital. Officer Nix was 33 and a veteran of the US Navy in Operation Desert Storm. Filed Under: Wesley Ruiz execution

Ruiz’s lawyers tried to stop the execution

The Death Row Watcher Twitter account reported on Wesley Ruiz’s execution: «#WesleyRuiz is now scheduled to be executed in #Texas,» says one of the posts shared moments before he received the lethal injection.

Less than two hours before Ruiz’s scheduled execution Wednesday night at Huntsville State Penitentiary, the US Supreme Court rejected an appeal by his lawyers. «The #UnitedStates #SupremeCourt has denied #WesleyRuiz‘s application for a stay of execution and petition for a writ of certiorari. His execution will proceed on time at 6 p.m. CST,” they tweeted. Filed Under: Wesley Ruiz execution

Ruiz’s lawyers claimed discrimination

It should be remembered that Ruiz’s lawyers had asked the court to stop the execution and one of their arguments was that the jurors relied on «blatant anti-Hispanic stereotypes» and were «openly racist» when making the assessment that the man would be a danger in the future.

Ruiz was one of five death row inmates in the state of Texas who sued to prevent the state’s prison system from using what they allege are expired and unsafe execution drugs. But, prison officials deny the claims in the lawsuit and say the state’s supply of execution drugs is safe.