Charles Victor Thompson’s final words before Texas execution

A Texas man sentenced to death for killing his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend said he hoped his victims’ loved ones could “find forgiveness in their heart” before his execution on Wednesday.

Charles Victor Thompson, 55, was convicted for the fatal shootings of Glenda Dennise Hayslip and Darren Keith Cain at her Houston home in 1998. After being sentenced, Thompson escaped custody and spent three days on the run.

“I hope the victims’ family, their extended family, and their loved ones can find forgiveness in their heart and that you can begin to heal and move past this,” Thompson said on Wednesday, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Thompson died by lethal injection at the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville on Wednesday, and was pronounced dead at 6.50 p.m. CT. He was the first person to be executed in the U.S. in 2026.

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