Texas has executed a prison gang member who fatally injected a fellow inmate with an overdose of heroin in retaliation for snitching on him.
Ricardo Ortiz was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. Thursday.
The 46-year-old was the fifth Texas inmate to die this year and the second of two executions in consecutive nights this week in the nation's most active death penalty state.
Ortiz was condemned for the retaliation slaying of 22-year-old Gerardo Garcia more than 11 years ago. Authorities say Garcia was killed so he couldn't testify about bank robberies the pair was suspected of carrying out.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Thursday to delay the execution. Ortiz had argued he should get federal money to pay for help filing a state clemency request.
