A Texas man, convicted of the murder of his former girlfriend and her new partner, was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday evening, marking the first execution in the United States this year.

Charles Victor Thompson, aged 55, was declared dead at 6:50 p.m. local time following the procedure at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Huntsville Unit. Thompson was found guilty of the fatal shootings that claimed the lives of his ex-girlfriend, 39-year-old Glenda Dennise Hayslip, and her new boyfriend, 30-year-old Darren Keith Cain, in April 1998 at Hayslip’s apartment near Houston.

In his final moments, Thompson sought forgiveness from the victims’ families, expressing his hope that they could “begin to heal and move past this.” His emotional statement came just after a spiritual adviser had prayed with him.

“There are no winners in this situation,” Thompson remarked, acknowledging the pain caused by his actions and noting that his execution “creates more victims and traumatizes more people 28 years later.”

This execution places Thompson as the first individual to be executed in the United States in 2023. (Image provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)

“I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry for what happened, and I want to tell all of y’all, I love you and that … keep Jesus in your life, keep Jesus first,” he said in his final words.

Thompson gasped loudly as the injection began taking effect, according to The Associated Press, before taking about a dozen breaths that turned into snoring sounds. He then stopped moving and was pronounced dead about 22 minutes later.

After witnessing the execution, Dennis Cain, whose son was killed by Thompson, said, “He’s in hell.”

Charles Victor Thompson was executed in Texas for the 1998 killings of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)

Harris County District Attorney Sean Tear, whose office prosecuted the case, said, “This chapter is closed.”

“It was justice a long time coming,” he added.

On the night of the murders, Thompson visited Hayslip’s apartment at 3 a.m. and got into an argument with Cain, according to court records. Thompson was told to leave the complex after police were called, but returned three hours later and shot the couple.

An execution chamber in a Texas prison.  (AP)

Cain died at the scene, while Hayslip died one week later.

Thompson’s original death sentence was later overturned, but a jury again sentenced him to die by lethal injection following a new punishment trial in November 2005.

Not long after being resentenced, Thompson escaped from the Harris County Jail in Houston and spent three days on the run before being caught.

He was arrested in Louisiana while trying to set up overseas wire transfers in an apparent attempt to flee to Canada.

About an hour before the scheduled execution, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a brief order rejecting a final appeal from Thompson. Earlier this week, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied Thompson’s request to commute his death sentence to a lesser penalty.