They executed by lethal injection two prisoners guilty of murdering a man and a child

A Texas man convicted of kidnapping and strangling a 5-year-old girl he abducted from a Walmart store while his family was shopping for Christmas in 2001 has been executed, the Associated Press reported.

David Renteria, 53, was pronounced dead at 7:11 p.m. GMT after a chemical injection at Huntsville State Prison. He prayed, sang and asked for forgiveness before the sentence was carried out.

“I am sorry for all the evils I have committed. And for those who called for my death, who are about to kill me, I forgive you,” he said in his closing statement, BTA added.

Prosecutors say Alexandra Flores, the youngest of eight children, was shopping with her family at the store in El Paso on Nov. 18, 2001, when Renteria took her out of the store, strangled her and set her body on fire. The child’s remains were found the next day about 25 km from the abduction site.

An Alabama inmate convicted of killing a man during a robbery in 1993 when he was a teenager was also executed by lethal injection, the Associated Press reported.

Casey McWhorter, 49, was executed at a prison in southwest Alabama, authorities said.

McWhorter was convicted of murder and sentenced to death for his role in the robbery and shooting death of 34-year-old Edward Lee Williams on February 18, 1993.

Prosecutors say McWhorter, who was 18 at the time of the murder, conspired with two younger teenagers, including Williams’ 15-year-old son, to steal money and other items from Williams’ home and then to kill him.

The jury that convicted McWhorter recommended the death penalty by a 10-2 vote, which the judge, who has the final decision, imposed, according to court documents, BTA added.

The younger perpetrators at the time of the killing — Edward Lee Williams Jr. and Daniel Miner, who was 16 — were sentenced to life in prison, according to court documents.

Prosecutors say McWhorter and Miner went to Williams’ home with rifles and made homemade silencers out of a pillow and a milk jug. When the elder Williams arrived home and found the teenagers, he grabbed the shotgun Miner was holding.

The two began to struggle over her and McWhorter fired the first shot at Williams, a crime summary in court documents said. Williams was shot a total of 11 times, according to court documents.