A Texas man was executed on Tuesday evening 13 years after brutally killing a beloved grandma when he set her on fire at a gas station. 

Matthew Johnson, 49, was convicted of the heinous murder of Nancy Harris, 76, a gas station clerk he doused with lighter fluid and set on fire during a 2012 robbery in Garland, TX. 

He was pronounced dead at 6:53 p.m. after giving a final statement.

“First and foremost, I would like to give all praises to God. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here on this Earth. I thank him for the life he has given me,” Johnson said. “To Mrs. Harris’ family, as I look at each and every one of you, I see her on that day. 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.”

TEXAS EXECUTES MAN 20 YEARS AFTER HE STRANGLED, STABBED A YOUNG MOTHER TO DEATH

Johnson went on to apologize to his wife and children and admit his wrongdoing, saying: “I made wrong choices, I’ve made wrong decisions, and now I pay the consequences.”

He addressed his fellow death row inmates, telling them “I love y’all man, y’all continue on. Jesus is the way brothers, he is the only way.”

Johnson was 36 at the time of the deadly attack.

The fatal attack happened exactly 13 years ago, on May 20, 2012. Court documents, obtained by The Associated Press, show Johnson walked into the convenience store Harris was working at with a bottle of lighter fluid and a cigarette lighter. 

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said Johnson then went behind the counter and stole cigarettes, lighters and cash from the register before dumping the lighter fluid on Harris and setting her on fire before exiting the store. 

He was arrested nearly an hour after the attack, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. 

TEXAS EXECUTION OF ‘DESERT KILLER,’ ON DEATH ROW FOR 30 YEARS, BLOCKED BY COURT

Matthew Johnson was put to death in Texas. (AP)

Officials said Harris, who had worked at the gas station for more than 10 years, died five days after the attack, but was able to describe Johnson to police before her death.  

At his 2013 trial, the AP reported Johnson admitted to setting Harris on fire, expressing remorse and calling himself “the lowest scum of the earth.”

TEXAS TO EXECUTE MAN WHO KILLED PASTOR IN CHURCH DAYS AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM ANGER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville. (Google Maps)

“I hurt an innocent woman. I took a human being’s life. I was the cause of that. It was not my intentions to – to kill her or to hurt her, but I did,” said Johnson. 

During his sentencing, Johnson testified that he had been under the influence of drugs and alcohol during the robbery, claiming the lighter fluid was only meant to scare Harris, and he had no intention to kill her. 

Johnson tried to appeal his death sentence, but his attempts failed. 

Johnson’s execution will mark the fourth in the state this year and would bring the total number of executions in the U.S. to 18 so far this year. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. She covers topics including missing persons, homicides, national crime cases, illegal immigration, and more. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com

A federal judge in Oklahoma has put a two-week hold on a 2024 state law coming into force that criminalizes illegal immigrants living in the state, a decision that was welcomed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) but drew a strong rebuke from the state’s attorney general, who blasted the decision as “outrageous.”

Federal District Judge Bernard Jones on Tuesday ruled that House Bill 4156 may not be enforced for at least 14 days while a court challenge proceeds.

The law creates the crime of “impermissible occupation” and empowers state and local law enforcement officers to arrest immigrants suspected of being in the U.S. illegally.

TRUMP DOJ DROPS BIDEN-ERA LEGAL CHALLENGE TO TEXAS BORDER SECURITY LAW

A first offense under the law is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of $500, and a second offense is a felony that could result in up to two years in prison. The law also requires a person to leave the state within 72 hours of conviction or release from custody.

The bill was signed into law in April 2024 but was held up from taking force due to a lawsuit filed by the Biden administration challenging its constitutionality in that it violates the federal government’s immigration authority, which led to a pause in enforcement.

However, the new Trump Justice Department decided to drop the federal government’s case in March.

That led to two unnamed undocumented immigrants and the ACLU representing a local advocacy group filing a new lawsuit, which prompted Jones to issue another temporary injunction on Tuesday.

People display signs during a May Day march and rally led by immigrant groups, marching from lower Scissortail Park to the Love’s Travel Stop Stage in the upper park, on May 4, 2025. An Oklahoma City federal judge on Tuesday put a two-week hold on the state’s enforcement of a law criminalizing immigrants living in Oklahoma without legal residency. (DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

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Jones said that their case is likely to succeed in court, adding that he will consider a longer-term injunction of the law after a court hearing in early June.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond blasted the delayed enforcement, writing on X that “it is outrageous that Oklahoma is once again prohibited from enforcement of HB 4156.”

He said it was critical to the state’s efforts to shut down illegal marijuana grows, fentanyl distribution and other illegal activities.

Drummond also blasted the judge for allowing the case to proceed despite two of the plaintiffs being anonymous because to reveal their identities would “expos(e) them to federal authorities” for federal lawbreaking, he said, quoting the judge.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond blasted the delayed enforcement as “outrageous.” (Reuters)

“In the name of federal law, the court is protecting admitted lawbreakers from federal and state consequences,” Drummond said in a statement. “This is perverse, contrary to the rule of law and we will be evaluating all options for challenging the ruling.”

Tamya Cox-Touré, the executive director for the ACLU of Oklahoma, said the decision was a victory for immigrants’ rights.

“But the damage of HB 4156 and the national rhetoric repeated by local politicians has already created an environment of fear in our state,” Cox-Touré said. No matter what someone looks like, sounds like, or what their immigration status may be, they should feel safe in their own communities. We will continue to fight for the rights and dignity of immigrants and their families.”

A Texas-based doctor was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for healthcare fraud after he carried out what prosecutors said was a nearly two-decade scheme that involved falsely diagnosing thousands of patients with degenerative diseases and profiting handsomely off their treatments.

Jorge Zamora-Quezada, a rheumatologist licensed to practice medicine in Texas, Arizona and Massachusetts before being stripped of his licenses in each state, raked in hundreds of millions of dollars for the misdiagnoses and treatment he ordered during his roughly 20 years as a medical practitioner. The treatments included punishing rounds of chemotherapy, intravenous infusions, and a battery of other tests, monthly visits, and regular procedures associated with the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic, autoimmune condition for which there is no cure.

The sentencing, and his earlier court appearances, played out at times like a study in contrasts. Prosecutors detailed his extravagant lifestyle, including a private jet, 13 properties across the U.S., including in Aspen and various towns in Mexico, and a Maserati – while the health of the patients he defrauded continued to worsen.  

Prosecutors accused him of taking advantage of vulnerable individuals in Texas, such as teenagers, elderly individuals, and disabled persons, in order to carry out the scheme. Some of them testified at Wednesday’s hearing about the ongoing side effects they suffered as a result of the doctor’s actions, including receiving chemotherapy or IV infusions they did not need. 

AMTRAK BILKED OUT OF $12M BY AT LEAST 119 EMPLOYEES, DOCTORS IN FRAUD SCHEME; MANY STILL ON THE JOB: REPORT

It’s “one of the most egregious” cases of its kind the Justice Department has brought in this space, Matthew Galeotti, head of the Justice Department Criminal Division, told Fox News Digital in a sit-down interview on Wednesday.

That’s because of “all of the various kinds of misconduct rolled into one,” he said, “and because it was pervasive – the scheme lasted more than 18 years.”

“By the time you’re towards the end of the scheme, he knows the consequences some of these things have had on the victims, and he’s going forward anyways,” he said of the doctor.

The Justice Department’s Criminal Division has been prosecuting this case for years. Unlike other departments, it is one of the few where career and political staff alike are largely in lockstep, with goals and cases that transcend partisan politics and seek instead to hold criminals like the Texas doctor accountable. 

Galeotti said he sees the case as emblematic of the Trump administration’s goals to vindicate victims and counter wasteful government spending.

“Even in cases where you don’t see this level of misconduct, where you’re not prescribing someone chemotherapy medicine that doesn’t need it, which obviously sort of stands out on its own, we still have a problem because you were wasting government funds that should be going to actually benefiting patients,” Galeotti said.

A BERLIN DOCTOR HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH THE KILLINGS OF 15 PATIENTS UNDER PALLIATIVE CARE

US President Donald Trump and US Attorney General Pam Bondi (L) arrive to speak at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP) (Getty Images)

A separate Justice Department official told Fox News Digital Zamora-Quezada’s case was one of the “most significant” instances of patient harm that he had seen in at least a decade.

“There was testimony about truly debilitating side effects from the medications, things like strokes, necrosis of the jawbone, really the jawbone melting away, hair loss, liver damage,” the official said. 

The doctor’s actions were seen as particularly egregious, in the Justice Department’s telling, because they sought to prey on lower-income communities in Texas, targeting teenagers, elderly persons, and disabled individuals. The doctor also operated in areas with less access to medical care and with fewer native English speakers compared to other parts of the state.

“Of course, it’s always the most twisted when you’re benefiting from someone else’s misfortune – misfortune you caused – and misfortune you used for your own personal enrichment,” Galeotti said.

“They’re the hallmarks of the worst kind of conduct that you see,” Galeotti said.

DOJ PROSECUTOR SUING TRANS MEDICINE WHISTLEBLOWER TAKEN OFF CASE OVER APPARENT CONFLICT OF INTEREST

“This investigation highlights an even greater concern presented by health care fraud than the significant financial losses – the physical and emotional harm suffered by the patients and their families,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Combs in 2018.  (Getty Images)

Zamora-Quezada was convicted by a jury in 2020 of seven counts of healthcare fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, and one count of obstruction of justice. His attorneys argued that the fraud was not “pervasive” in the way the government made it out to be, according to public court filings.

Prosecutors said Zamora-Quezada purchased condominium properties in vacation towns, including in Aspen, San Diego, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. They said he commuted to his various doctors’ offices in Texas in a Maserati and a private jet, both emblazoned with his initials, “ZQ.” His assets were forfeited after he was charged, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, they said, while Zamora-Quezada was living a life of luxury, out of nearly 100,000 Medicare patients he treated, Zamora-Quezada diagnosed 72.9% of them with rheumatoid arthritis. Prosecutors compared that data to seven other Texas rheumatologists, who cumulatively diagnosed 13% of their patients with the same condition.

Prosecutors asked for $100 million in restitution, but the judge required him to pay $28 million.

Attorneys for Zamora-Quezada did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.