Texas on Wednesday executed Charles Victor Thompson, a death row inmate who once escaped custody after being resentenced, marking the first execution carried out in the United States this year.
Thompson, 55, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. CST after receiving a lethal injection of pentobarbital at the Huntsville state penitentiary, according to prison officials. He had been convicted of fatally shooting his former girlfriend, Glenda Dennise Hayslip, 39, and her new partner, Darren Keith Cain, 30, in Houston in 1998.
The Crime and Convictions
Court records show that Thompson arrived at Hayslip’s apartment in a Houston suburb around 3 a.m., where an argument broke out between him and Cain. Police responded to the disturbance and instructed Thompson to leave the apartment complex.
Roughly three hours later, Thompson returned and opened fire. Cain was killed at the scene, while Hayslip was critically wounded and died a week later in the hospital.
Thompson was initially sentenced to death, though the sentence was overturned, leading to a new punishment trial in November 2005. He was again sentenced to death by lethal injection.
Final Appeals Rejected
In the hours leading up to the execution, Thompson exhausted his remaining legal options. The US Supreme Court rejected his final appeal without comment, and earlier this week, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his request to have his sentence reduced to life in prison.
His lawyers argued Thompson had been denied the opportunity to challenge medical evidence, claiming Hayslip’s death resulted from inadequate medical care rather than the gunshot wound. Prosecutors countered that a jury had already rejected that argument and said Thompson was legally responsible for her death.
A separate civil lawsuit filed by Hayslip’s family against one of her doctors was rejected by a jury in 2002.
Final Words and Witness Reactions
In his final statement, Thompson apologized to the victims’ families and asked for forgiveness.
“There are no winners in this situation,” he said. “This creates more victims and traumatizes more people 28 years later.”
He added:
“I’m sorry for what I did. I love you all. Keep Jesus in your life, keep Jesus first.”
As the lethal injection took effect, witnesses reported that Thompson gasped and took several labored breaths before becoming still. He was pronounced dead 22 minutes later.
One of the witnesses, Dennis Cain, whose son Darren was killed, responded bluntly.
“He’s in hell,” Cain said after Thompson was declared dead.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said the execution brought closure to a long-running case.
“This chapter is closed,” Teare said. “It was justice a long time coming.”
Escape From Custody
Shortly after being resentenced in 2005, Thompson escaped from the Harris County Jail in Houston. He later told the Associated Press that he slipped out of his handcuffs and jail uniform after meeting his lawyer in an unlocked interview room and used a makeshift badge to pass deputies.
“I got to smell the trees, feel the wind in my hair,” Thompson said at the time. “It took me straight back to childhood.”
He was captured three days later in Shreveport, Louisiana, while attempting to arrange overseas money transfers to flee to Canada.
US Executions in 2026
Texas has historically carried out more executions than any other US state. However, Florida led the nation in 2025 with 19 executions.
The next execution in the United States is scheduled for February 10, when Ronald Palmer Heath is set to be put to death in Florida for the 1989 murder of a traveling salesman during a robbery.
