Texas execution: Cleve Foster put to death for Fort Worth murder after three delays

Former Army recruiter Cleve Foster was executed this evening for his role in the shooting murder of a woman in Fort Worth, Texas, 10 years ago.

The 48-year-old, who maintained his innocence, was given a lethal injection a few hours after the US Supreme Court refused to delay his punishment for a fourth time, the Associated Press reported.

ABC News reported that Foster had been given three stays of execution from the Texas Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court in the past year.

His lawyers argued their client was not involved in the murder of Nyaneur Pal, a 30-year-old immigrant from Sudan, and that he had received poor legal representation at his trial.

Reuters reported that Foster’s accomplice in the murder, Shelton Ward, died of brain cancer on death row in 2010.

Foster expressed love for his family and God before he was put to death.

"When I close my eyes, I"ll be with the father," he said. "God is everything. He's my life. Tonight I'll be with him."

Foster is the ninth prisoner to be executed in Texas this year and the 30th in the entire country, Reuters said.

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