Convicted killer Ronald Ray Howard was executed Thursday for fatally shooting a Texas state trooper, a slaying his trial attorneys argued was prompted by Howard listening to anti-police rap music.

Asked if he had a final statement, Howard looked at the trooper's widow, daughter and brother and said he hoped "this helps a little. I don't know how, but I hope it helps."

As the drugs were administered, he lifted his head from the gurney and mouthed that he loved them, urged them to be strong and said "I'm going home."

Howard, 32, was executed for gunning down Texas Department of Public Safety Officer Bill Davidson, 43, during a traffic stop 13 years ago outside Edna, about 100 miles southwest of Houston.

The execution was the 14th this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles earlier this week unanimously refused Howard's request that his death sentence be commuted to life.

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