A Texas death row inmate convicted after shooting down a Dallas police officer after a high-speed chase over 15 years ago was executed on February 1, 2023. He told the victim’s family that he hoped his death would grant them closure.
Forty-three-year-old Wesley Ruiz received a lethal injection for the March 2007 killing of Officer Mark Nix, a senior corporal in the Dallas Police Department who was 33 years old.
Ruiz was put to death at the state prison in Huntsville, Texas. He did not get to enjoy a final meal of his choice. He was denied that request and forced to eat whatever was readily available at the institution on that day.
Before he was injected, Ruiz’s final words were an apology to the Nix family before saying he was ready to “fly” and “ride.”
While apologizing, Ruiz did not make eye contact with the family or relatives of Officer Nix, who came to witness his death and were watching from a window a few feet away from him.
Ruiz then thanked his loved ones for the support they had shown him and asked his kids always to stand tall and continue making him proud, adding that they should not worry about him as he was ready to fly.
He turned to the warden and told him he was “ready to ride.”
As he was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital, he took two quick breaths and started snoring.
He was pronounced dead twenty-two minutes later at 6:41 pm.
Ruiz was put on death row in 2008 after he was found guilty of shooting Officer Nix, a navy veteran, the previous year.
Police had been searching for a murder suspect in 2007 and spotted Ruiz driving a Chevrolet matching the description of the case seen fleeing the homicide scene.
A police chase ensued after cops tried to pull him over. The chase ended after Ruiz’s car slid off the road, prompting Officer Nix to attempt to smash a window with his baton. Ruiz fired his gun, hitting Ruiz’s police badge and injuring his neck.
Officer Nix later died in a hospital, and Ruiz received the death penalty the following year.
Ruiz’s attorney filed many unsuccessful appeals to get him off Death Row.
Texas has scheduled eight executions for 2023, with Ruiz’s being the second.
