Michael Dewayne Johnson (May 27, 1977 – October 19, 2006) was a criminal sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of Jeff Wetterman. Johnson committed suicide 15 hours before his scheduled execution. Murder case On September 9, 1995, on his 17th birthday, David Noel Vest went to visit 19-year-old Michael Johnson at his home in Balch Springs, near Dallas, Texas. At the house, Vest noticed a 9mm pistol lying on a table. Later that day, Vest was at home when some other friends dropped by in a stolen Cadillac. Vest went out with his friends, driving them each to their homes until he was the last one left in the car. Vest then saw Johnson in a parking lot, talking on a public telephone. He pulled over and picked up his friend, and the two drove to Johnson's house. Johnson went inside and returned with the 9mm pistol tucked into the waistband of his trousers. The pair drove around for a while then headed towards the Texas coast during the night, aiming to spend the following day at the beach, at Corpus Christi, to celebrate Vest's birthday. Near the town of Waco, the two noticed that the Cadillac was running low on fuel. Only having 4 dollars each, they decided to make a "gas run"; filling up the car with gasoline and then speeding off without paying. Johnson took the wheel and they drove to two separate gas stations but decided the circumstances were unfavorable at both. Around 7:00 a.m. on September 10, they drove to a Fastime convenience store/gas station, near an Interstate 35 exit ramp in Lorena, Texas. The service station was a family business, run by 27-year-old Jeff Wetterman, a tall man of 6 foot 7 inches. Vest and Johnson drove into the forecourt of the service station. Wetterman came out to fill the car with gasoline, as was custom at the full-service station. Knowing they did not have money to pay for the $24 worth of fuel, and afraid that Wetterman would alert the police if they drove off, one of the two young men shot Wetterman in the face with the pistol, severing his spinal cord. A female employee of the Fastime service station would later testify that after the sound of the shot, she looked out and saw Wetterman sitting on the ground with a blond-haired man standing beside the passenger door of the