A prisoner Stephen Barbee who murdered his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her 7-year-old boy more than 17 years ago was executed in Texas on Wednesday.

The state prison in Huntsville administered a fatal injection to 55-year-old Stephen Barbee. 26 minutes after a deadly dose of pentobarbital started flowing into his bloodstream, he was pronounced dead at 7:35 p.m.

For the 2005 killings of Lisa Underwood, 34, and her son Jayden, he received a death sentence. They were found buried in a small grave in neighbouring Denton County after being found smothered in their Fort Worth home.

Barbee admitted to killing Underwood and her son, telling authorities that he did so out of concern that Underwood would tell his wife that he was the father of her unborn child. But he then changed his mind, Keeping his innocence, he claimed that the confession was forced.

According to the Associated Press, Barbee expressed his faith in God and expressed his wish that his family and friends would not experience any loss as a result of this.

He did not glance at the relatives and friends of his victims, who were watching from a viewing room, nor did he name Underwood or her kid.

“My readiness, warden. Deliver me home, “Barbee cried as she spoke. “All I want is for everyone to be at peace with themselves.”

After the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal from Barbee’s attorneys to stay his execution, Barbee was put to death.

In response to a high court decision earlier this year that said states must accommodate inmates who wish to have their faith leaders pray aloud and even touch them during their executions, his attorneys had asked the high court for a stay of execution, arguing that his religious rights were being violated because the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had not created a written policy on what spiritual advisers can do while in the execution chamber.

On Monday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected Barbee’s requests for a four-month reprieve or a reduction in his death sentence.

A few hours earlier, on Wednesday morning, Arizona executed Murray Hooper for the 1980 murders of two individuals in Phoenix on New Year’s Eve.

Richard Fairchild in Oklahoma and Kenneth Smith in Alabama will be put to death on Thursday.

Barbee is the 15th prisoner to be executed in the United States and the fifth this year in Texas.

Carl Wayne Buntion, Kosoul Chanthakoummane, John Ramirez, and Tracy Beatty were all put to death by the state between April and November 9. There are no other prisoners slated for execution in Texas this year.

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