On May 20th, 2025, Matthew Lee Johnson was executed by lethal injection exactly 13 years after he committed a brutal crime. In this video, we’ll uncover what happened, his last meal, and his last words. It was just after 7:00 a.m. on May 20th, 2012 in Garland, Texas. Nancy Harris had just opened the Whipin convenience store like she’d done countless times before.

 She was 76 years old, working the early shift, mopping the floor in the quiet morning hours. She was alone when the door swung open and Matthew Johnson walked in. But he wasn’t there to shop. He was there to rob. In his hand, he carried a plastic bottle filled with lighter fluid and a cigarette lighter in his pocket. He walked past the counter, ignoring the familiar setup of snacks and soft drinks, heading straight for the register.

 Nancy followed him, telling him he wasn’t allowed back there. She didn’t yell, just firm, like someone used to handling trouble with words. But Matthew didn’t stop. Instead, he raised the bottle and poured the fluid over her head. He told her to open the cash register. While she did what he asked, he grabbed cigarettes and cash.

 And the surveillance video also showed him taking her ring, though he later claimed he didn’t remember doing that. But even after he had what he came for, he didn’t leave. Standing just inches from her, still holding the lighter, Matthew flicked it once, trying, he said, to scare her into backing away. But she didn’t, so he flicked it again and again. The third time, the flame caught.

And since her clothes were soaked, she instantly burst into flames. Matthew didn’t try to put it out. He didn’t even look back. He walked out calmly, paused long enough to grab a piece of candy near the exit, and vanished into the day, leaving Nancy burning behind the counter. Nancy tried to put the flames out herself.

 She leaned over the sink, splashing water on her burning clothes, desperate to stop the fire, but it wasn’t working. Her shirt kept burning. So, she tore it off and dropped it to the floor, hoping that would be enough. But it wasn’t. The flame spread fast and her bra was still on fire. And when she leaned over the sink again, the smoldering shirt on the floor caught her pants leg.

 Now her lower body was burning too. Still on fire, Nancy stumbled toward the front of the store. She shoved the doors open and made it outside, screaming for help as smoke poured behind her. Two nearby police officers, Billy Coffee and Anthony Simon, had already seen movement and smoke through the windows of the whip-in.

 And as they pulled into the parking lot, Nancy came bursting through the doors, engulfed in flames. Officer Coffee didn’t hesitate. He grabbed a fire extinguisher from his cruiser and ran to her, spraying her down as fast as he could. He fought the fire, clinging to her body while Officer Simon tried to keep her conscious. And when the flames were finally out, she was still alive, barely.

 In pain, but still speaking, Nancy told them everything. She said a man had robbed her and poured something on her. He was heavy set African-Amean, wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to start the hunt. Inside the store, officers found the cash register drawer emptied. It didn’t hold much.

 About $80 in bills and coins, according to the store manager. That’s what Matthew traded a life for. A handful of cash, a pack of cigarettes, and some candy. Firefighter and paramedic William Cruz arrived on scene soon after. A police officer waved him over urgently, pointing to the woman lying on the pavement outside the store.

 William didn’t need to ask what happened. It was obvious. NY’s face, shoulders, arms, stomach, and legs were covered in burns. Some so deep they destroyed all layers of her skin. She was still conscious, but barely holding on. As he treated her, she kept whispering the same words, barely louder than a breath.

 “Help me! Help me! Help me!” Then again, “Help me! Help me! Please!” There was panic in her voice, not just fear, but understanding. Nancy knew exactly how bad it was. At the same time, Matthew was still on the run. He jumped fences, tossed his shirt in a trash can, stole a bicycle off someone’s porch, and disappeared into the neighborhood.

 Along the way, he smoked another stolen cigarette, hid in bushes, and fought with a man who tried to stop him. About an hour after the incident, he was spotted by an officer. And after a short foot chase, he was finally arrested. In his pockets, they found NY’s ring and approximately $76 in bills.

 Back at the station, Matthew confessed. He admitted everything, robbing the store, taking the cigarettes, setting the fire, but he claimed it was all a mistake. Said he was high, confused, and that lighting the flame was just a scare tactic, that he never meant for Nancy to get hurt. But no one believed that the injuries Nancy suffered were horrific. Dr. Dr.

John Hunt, one of the burn specialists at Parkland Hospital, testified that she had sustained burns over more than 40% of her body with the burns to her upper body ranging second to fourth degree in severity. Though she couldn’t speak because of the breathing tube in her throat, she was conscious and alert.

Nurses said she spelled out words with her fingers, asking questions the best she could. At one point, she asked her nurse if she was going to die. Doctors explained the treatments they were trying. Skin grafts, medications, supportive care. But when she heard all of that, Nancy shook her head. She didn’t want to fight anymore.

 Her family respected her wishes and followed what she’d written in her living will. They stopped treatment and 5 days after the attack, Nancy Harris passed away from her burns. She had worked at the convenience store for more than 10 years, living only about a block and a half away. She had four sons, 11 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

 At that moment, Matthew was charged with capital murder. And this wasn’t a case where the prosecution had to rely on speculation. The surveillance footage was clear. The bottle of lighter fluid was found, and he had confessed to pouring it over her. He had a lighter in hand. He robbed her and then set her on fire.

 And in court, he didn’t deny any of it. He even explained where he’d been the night before. He said he’d gone to a wedding reception at his brother’s house, not far from the whip in store. There, he drank heavily, and by the time the party ended, he admitted he was drunk. Around midnight, a family member gave him $30. The money was supposed to go toward fixing his car, but Matthew had other plans.

 He walked a few blocks, found a dealer, and spent it all on crack cocaine. He smoked some of it right away, then sold a portion so he could buy more. By 4:00 a.m., he said he had already gone through 10 rocks of crack. Somewhere between 4 and 5:00 a.m., he took a Xanax. Claimed it was to calm himself down before heading home to watch his daughter, but instead of going home, he drifted back to his brother’s place around 6:00 a.m.

 On the patio, he found a bottle of wine, sat down, and drank the whole thing. And that’s when the craving came back. He wanted more crack, and he didn’t have the money to get it. So, he made a choice. He grabbed a plastic bottle, filled it with lighter fluid, and took a cigarette lighter. His plan, he later said, wasn’t to hurt anyone.

 He just wanted to scare someone, pour a little fluid, wave the flame, make them nervous enough to hand over the cash, then leave. At trial, Matthew took the stand. He didn’t sugarcoat anything and called himself scum. In front of the jury, he said he deserved to die for what he did to Nancy Harris.

 He even told them he should be set on fire just like her. But in the same breath, he asked them for mercy. Not for himself, he said, but for his daughters. He had three young girls, and as broken as he was, he didn’t want them growing up knowing their father had been executed. He asked the jury to spare his life for them, but it didn’t work.

 On December 10th, 2013, the jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death. But their decision wasn’t based on just one act of violence. They had seen a long and troubling history, a pattern that told them this wasn’t a man who made one mistake. Matthew had been convicted before for robbery, assault, and violating protective orders.

 He had carjacked a woman, threatened to grab a police officer’s gun, set his girlfriend’s rug on fire, and even exposed himself to a hotel mate while grabbing her hand. And prison didn’t change him either. If anything, it proved the jury right. He attacked his cellmate so badly the man needed nine staples in his head.

 And on another occasion, he stood naked in his cell doorway, mitting while staring at a female guard. To the jury, Matthew wasn’t just violent. He was dangerous and he always would be. His lawyers tried everything they could after the trial. They argued he’d been abused as a child, that drug addiction had wrecked his thinking, that he was so high that morning he didn’t fully understand what he was doing.

 But appeal after appeal failed. Nothing changed the outcome. And then came the date. May 20th, 2025, exactly 13 years to the day since Nancy Harris was set on fire. After more than a decade on death row, Matthew’s time ran out. Under Texas law, inmates can no longer request a special last meal. So, Matthew was served the same standard tray as everyone else.

 When asked if he had any last words, Matthew turned to the victim’s family and spoke. To Mrs. Harris’s family. As I look at each and every one of you, I see her on that day. He said, “I just please ask for y’all’s forgiveness. I never meant to hurt her. I pray that she’s the first person that I see when I open my eyes, and I will spend eternity with her.

” He continued, “Praised God, and thanked him for the life he has given me.” Then he addressed the men he had spent years with on death row, calling them brothers, and told them he loved them. He also thanked the prison staff for treating him with dignity, for giving him, in his words, the opportunity to get in right standings with my Lord.

 Then came his apology to his wife and daughters. Just know that it’s nothing that you all did. I made wrong choices. I’ve made wrong decisions. And now I pay the consequences. He ended with a prayer of gratitude. I thank the Lord for the last 13 years. He has given me the opportunity to ask for his forgiveness and I thank him for his redemption.

 He said, “Welcome me, father. Thank each and every one of you for being here. I’m done.” Warden Matthew received a lethal injection shortly after 6 p.m. inside the Huntsville unit. He gasped several times, then began making low snoringike sounds. Within a minute, all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead at 6:53 p.m. Matthew Lee Johnson was 49 years old.