John Hummel, 45, executed in Texas for stabbing his pregnant wife, stepfather and daughter: these were his last words

 Steph Deschamps / July 1, 2021

The U.S. state of Texas on Wednesday executed a man convicted of a particularly violent triple murder, which had been the first to get a reprieve because of the pandemic.

John Hummel, a 45-year-old man, was given a lethal injection in Huntsville Penitentiary and pronounced dead at 6:49 p.m. local time.

In 2009, he stabbed his pregnant wife and stepfather, then beat his five-year-old daughter to death with a baseball bat before setting fire to their home in Fort Worth, in the southern United States. According to prosecutors, he wanted to start a new life with another woman.

Just before his death, the 45-year-old was able to say a few words: I deeply regret having killed my family, he said, before thanking his friends for their prayers: I love you all .

He should have been executed on March 17, 2020, but an appeals court pushed the deadline back at the last minute in light of the health crisis. The judges pointed out that an execution requires enormous resources - dozens of prison guards, lawyers, witnesses, etc. - that could spread Covid-19.

Texas, the U.S. state with the most capital punishment, had resumed executions on May 19 to execute Quintin Jones, an African-American man who had killed his grandmother. Since the beginning of the year, with the exception of Texas, only the federal government has carried out three executions, just before the departure of Republican President Donald Trump.