HUNTSVILLE, Texas – The Latest on the execution of James Freeman for the slaying of a Texas game warden (all times local):
6:40 p.m.
A Texas prisoner has been executed for fatally shooting a game warden nine years ago during a shootout after a 90-minute chase that began when he was suspected of poaching.
The lethal injection Wednesday evening of 35-year-old James Freeman was the second in as many weeks in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any other state.
Freeman in 2007 led police on a chase with speeds reaching 130 mph after he was suspected of illegal hunting in Wharton County in Southeast Texas. After his pickup truck was disabled, he jumped out and opened fire at officers with a pistol and an assault rifle.
A Texas game warden, Justin Hurst, was shot and killed in the June 17, 2007, shootout. It was Hurst's 34th birthday.
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12:42 p.m.
No late appeals are expected for a man set to be executed for a Texas game warden's death during a 2007 shootout.
James Freeman's lethal injection would be the second in as many weeks if carried out Wednesday in the nation's busiest death penalty state.
The U.S. Supreme Court earlier this month refused to review Freeman's case. On Monday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles declined a clemency petition for Freeman.
Freeman was suspected of illegally hunting at night from his truck when a Texas game warden spotted him. Freeman led authorities on a 90-minute chase that ended with a shootout in which another game warden who joined the pursuit was killed.
Justin Hurst was fatally wounded after Freeman stepped out of his disabled pickup and shot at officers.
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