As Steven Nelson’s execution looms, the man convicted in the 2011 killing of Arlington pastor Clint Dobson is making one final plea for mercy.
Scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on February 5, Nelson age 37, is now facing the end of over a decade-long legal battle, with little hope left for any changes to his sentencing.
Nelson was convicted of smothering the 28-year-old pastor during a botched robbery at NorthPointe Baptist Church in Arlington. Dobson, a beloved church leader and family man, was killed during the robbery attempt that also left church secretary Judy Elliot severely beaten but alive, according to court documents.
Despite months of appeals and legal challenges, Nelson is nearing the end of his journey through the courts, with only a handful of avenues remaining to potentially delay or halt his execution.
Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells defended the conviction, stating last year that the evidence against Nelson was clear enough to support the courts ruling.
“(There is) overwhelming physical and circumstantial evidence connecting him to the crime,” Sorrells said in a past interview with NBC DFW.
Nelson, who has admitted to his role in the robbery but continues to deny committing the murder, is now making an appeal for mercy based on his personal “transformation” while in prison. According to recent reports, he now claims that he is not the same man who was sentenced to death more than 10 years ago.
“ Should I have time? Yes. Should I be in prison? Yes. But everybody can be rehabilitated. I’m not a lost cause,” Nelson told The Dallas Morning News.
His final plea for clemency comes with few voices advocating for his life beyond his immediate circle.
His new wife, Hélène Noa Dubois, and his spiritual advisor, Rev. Jeff Hood, have been vocal in their efforts to bring attention to his case. Hood, a pastor and anti-death penalty activist, has argued that Nelson’s rehabilitation during his time on death row should be taken into account and that no person should be defined solely by the worst mistake of their life.
Despite their efforts, Nelson’s case has garnered far less attention than other high-profile death penalty cases in Texas, such as that of Robert Roberson III, whose execution was temporarily postponed last year, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Regardless, Nelson’s legal team has continued to argue that his original defense failed to highlight the extent of his troubled upbringing, including childhood abuse, which they believe played a key role in his eventual criminal behavior and the murder of Dobson, per The DMN.