HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) – Texas executed a man Wednesday who was convicted of killing a woman and her child, while Mississippi put to death a man who took part in the fatal beating of another man.

Derrick Sonnier shook his head “no” when asked if he had any final statements. he was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. CDT, eight minutes after the lethal dose was administered.

Sonnier was convicted of murdering Melody Flowers, 27, and her 2-year-old son, Patrick, in their Houston apartment in 1991.

Flowers was raped, stabbed, strangled and beaten with a hammer until its handle broke. Her son was stabbed eight times. Her body was dumped into a bathtub filled with water and the child’s body was tossed on top of her.

Sonnier, 40, maintained his innocence. He made a similar trip to the death house seven weeks ago but was spared when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals stopped his scheduled punishment after lawyers raised questions about the legality of the lethal injection procedures.

That appeal subsequently was rejected, Sonnier’s death date was reset for Wednesday evening and his legal avenues to avoid execution were exhausted.

In Mississippi, Dale Leo Bishop was executed by lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman for his role in the 1998 killing of Marcus James Gentry.

Bishop died by lethal injection at 6:14 p.m. CDT, corrections spokeswoman Tara Booth said. Members of Gentry’s family attended.

Bishop apologized to Gentry’s family and said he loved his own family. He also referred to Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential hopeful.

“For those who oppose the death penalty and want to see it end, our best bet is to vote for Barack Obama because his supporters have been working behind the scenes to end this practice,” Bishop said.

Bishop’s attorneys said his life should have been spared because he did not swing the hammer that killed Gentry.

Bishop acknowledged participating in the attack, but another man, Jessie Johnson, admitted striking the lethal blows. Johnson was tried separately and sentenced to life without parole.

At the end of his 2000 trial, Bishop waived his right to a jury sentencing and asked the presiding judge to give him the death penalty. He later changed his mind after he said he went on medication for a bipolar disorder that was diagnosed in prison.

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Associated Press writer Holbrook Mohr in Parchman, Miss., contributed to this report.

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