Texas inmate becomes first state execution in 10 months Erik Ortiz Texas put a prisoner to death on Wednesday evening for the first time in about 10 months — signaling that states are ready to resume executions after a hiatus during much of the pandemic. Family members of Quintin Jones, 41, had hoped that either the U.S. Supreme Court or Gov. Greg Abbott would spare his life or grant a last-minute reprieve. Neither came. Jones was executed by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville and pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m., around 10 minutes after the lethal dose began, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said.