/ Interior of death chamber in Texas. For the first time in the modern death penalty era, Texas did not let the media witness an execution. Reporters have always been present at executions to observe the state as it wields its greatest power over life. Media reports often provide detail excluded from state records — like prisoners describing a burning sensation after lethal drugs are injected in their veins. Reporters across the country have served as watchdogs for botched executions. On Wednesday, the state executed Quintin Jones, 41, for the Tarrant County murder of his great-aunt in 1999. It was the state’s first execution in 10 months, the longest lull in the country’s busiest death chamber since 1984.