Man Executed for 1988 Killing of Off-Duty Cop
Vincent Edward Cooks, a parolee who killed a Dallas police officer during a robbery almost 14 years ago, was executed in Huntsville.
Cooks did not make eye contact with relatives of Gary McCarthy, but he seemed to maintain his contention that he was not the killer. “By them executing me, they aren’t going to make it right,” he said.
McCarthy, 33, was gunned down Feb. 26, 1988, while working an off-duty security job at a Dallas market. Prosecutors said they were confident they got the right man.
Cooks was the 17th Texas inmate to die by injection this year, making the state’s 2001 total the lowest since 1996.
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