Texas Man Executed for 1997 Murders

Those were the last words of James Lewis Jackson before he died by injection Wednesday for the 1997 slaying of his wife and two stepdaughters.

He was the first person from Harris County and the fourth from Texas to be executed this year.

Before offering his dying declaration, Jackson turned to his brother, sister and friends, and in an emotion-filled moment, told them not to worry.

"This is not the end, but the beginning of a new chapter," he said.

He then told them, "I love you all. See you on the other side." (Houston Chronicle)

As the lethal chemicals entered his body, Jackson, 47, laughed at a gesture made by one of his guests, then made a gurgling sound before dying. He was officially pronounced dead by prison officials at 6:18 p.m.

The 6-foot-7 Jackson, known to fellow death row inmates as "Big Jack," insisted he wasn't responsible for the April 9, 1997 slayings of Sonceria "Sonnie" Mayes, 19, and her sister Ericka, 18, at the apartment they shared with Jackson and his wife, Sharon, 39. Sharon Jackson, the girls' mother, also was murdered.

Prosecutor Julian Ramirez called it "an open-and-shut case." In a confession introduced into evidence, Jackson said he killed the women, and a note left at the crime scene said he "gave them back to God." Evidence showed Jackson pawned the woman's sewing machine and used the money to buy drugs.

(Houston Chronicle, AP)