A death row inmate who strangled his mother to death and buried her body in their backyard thanked his wife, who watched him die, in his last words before he was executed by lethal injection.
‘I don’t want to leave you baby. See you when you get there. I love you,” Tracy Beatty, 61, told his wife before receiving a lethal injection Wednesday night at 6:39 p.m.
Texas executed Beatty after the Supreme Court ruled unanimously against blocking his murder.
He died in front of his current wife, ex-wife and two of his daughters.
His death was confirmed shortly after 7 pm CT by Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
Asked if he wanted to say any final words, Beatty said, “Yeah, I just want to say thank you… I don’t want to leave you baby.” See you when you get there. Love you.
‘Thank you to all my brothers in the unit for all the encouragement to help me make my life right. Sunny, Blue, I love you brothers. See you on the other side.’
She also told her daughters ‘I love you’, before taking her last breath.
Beatty’s wife at the time of his death was an Israeli woman, whom he met writing letters. The two were married on October 25 in a ceremony at the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, where she served 18 years of her sentence.
His execution was controversial: Beatty’s lawyers never contested the murder charges, but contested the death penalty because they argued that he suffered from mental illness.
Beatty buried the body of her mother Carolyn Click (pictured), 62, in the backyard next to her mobile home.
Beatty became the fourth prisoner to be executed this year in Texas and the 13th in the United States. The final execution of the year in Texas is scheduled for next week.
Last week, Beatty said he wasn’t afraid of death.
I’ve already made my peace with the Man. So I know where I’m going,’ he told CBS19 from the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, where he spent most of his time in a cell plus two hours of recreation. I’ll be in a much better place than this.
He said his mother’s death was an accident. That’s why I’ve made my peace with the Man upstairs. I know I will see her again,’ he said.
Beatty buried the body of her mother Carolyn Click, 62, next to her mobile home about 115 miles southeast of Dallas, in a town called Whitehouse.
He then spent his money on drugs and alcohol, the state claims.
Corpse dogs eventually found her naked, contorted body in a small, shallow grave behind her yellow trailer home.
They buried her with mothballs and garlic and covered her with kitty litter and wood. Pantyhose had also been tied over her neck and face.
He received a lethal injection Wednesday night at the state’s death row facility in Huntsville, dubbed the Walls Unit.
Beatty’s attorneys also argued that he was ineligible for the death penalty because the act did not constitute capital murder.
Capital murder requires aggravating circumstances, such as killing a police officer or a child, or being in the process of committing another crime.
Beatty was convicted of capital murder because prosecutors argued that he killed his mother during a home robbery and that he had broken into her mobile home without her consent.
Beatty was staying with her mother in November 2003 after being placed on probation for intentionally harming her 18-month-old niece.
When he returned home after a day of drinking, he got into an argument with his mother, he told CBS19 last week. She then grabbed her by the neck and strangled her.
