Daniel Lee Lopez was executed by lethal injection in Texas Wednesday before family and witnesses for the 2009 death of Stuart Alexander, a Corpus Christi police lieutenant. Lopez chose to fight with an officer during what started out as a routine traffic stop and then began to flee the scene. Alexander was off the highway in a grassy area, after he had put spike strips down to help catch Lopez, when he was struck by Lopez's SUV during the resulting high-speed chase. Even after striking Alexander, and being surrounded by police, Lopez continued ramming his SUV and then chose to run, not stopping until he was shot, according to the Huffington Post.
Upon examination of the SUV, deputies found several packets of cocaine and a small scale, hidden in a false compartment in the console, according to the News Times.
The 27-year-old was a career criminal. Court records revealed he was already on probation when arrested for pleading guilty to indecency with a child in Galveston County. He was also a registered sex offender with other arrests for assault. Lopez requested the death penalty be expedited and even testified before a federal court with regard to his desire to drop all appeals.
Lopez was a father of at least five children with three different women. A sixth child was born while he was in jail awaiting the trial for Alexander's death. He reportedly told the mother of one of his former girlfriends that his plea for an expedited execution was so his children would be eligible for Social Security benefits until they turn 18.
Lopez was pronounced dead at 6:31 p.m., becoming the 10th death row inmate executed this year in Texas. The state has long been known as the nation's most active death penalty state, according to Fox News.
