Title: Convicted Serial Killer Tommy Lynn Sells Executed in Texas - ABC News
Headings: Convicted Serial Killer Tommy Lynn Sells Executed in Texas
Convicted Serial Killer Tommy Lynn Sells Executed in Texas
Content: Sells declined to make final remarks before his death, then took a few breaths, closed his eyes and began to snore as the lethal-injection drugs took effect, The Associated Press reported. He soon stopped moving and was pronounced dead 13 minutes later at 6:27 p.m. CT. Sells' execution earlier had been halted when a district court ruled that the Texas prison system was required to disclose information about its lethal-injection drugs supplier and how the drugs are tested. But a federal appeals court on Wednesday threw out the ruling and reversed the decision. Sells' attorneys made a plea to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the serial killer's execution, but their plea was rejected Thursday. In a statement to ABC News Thursday, Sells' attorneys said, "It is our belief that how we choose to execute prisoners reflects on us as a society. Without transparency about lethal injections, particularly the source and purity of drugs to be used, it is impossible to ensure that executions are humane and constitutional. It is our hope that the U.S. Supreme Court and the Texas courts will ultimately agree that we must have transparency about the execution process in order to ensure that prisoners are able to protect their Eighth Amendment rights." Sells was a subject in a 2010 special ABC News report entitled, "Nightline Prime: Secrets of Your Mind," which followed the inner workings of the human brain and its effects on behavior.