HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Texas prison officials on Thursday executed a man convicted in the slaying of a Dallas-area police officer during a 2002 shootout that followed the killing of a customer outside a convenience store.
Kent Sprouse, 42, became the fifth convicted killer put to death this year in Texas, the nation’s most active death penalty state.
Before his execution, Sprouse apologized to the families of his victims and his own family “for all the trouble I’ve caused everyone.” Then he thanked his family for their support.
“I guess that’s it,” he said.
As the lethal drug began taking effect, he said he could “smell it,” then added the drug “started to hit me with that $10,000.”