Juan Martin Garcia, pictured last month, was convicted of capital murder for the September 1998 killing and robbery of Hugo Solano. Picture: Mike Graczyk

Juan Martin Garcia was lethally injected for the September 1998 killing and robbery of Hugo Solano in Houston.

Mr Solano, a Christian missionary from Guadalajara, Mexico, had moved his family to the city just weeks earlier so his children could be educated in the U.S.

Garcia, 35, apologised to Mr Solano’s relatives in Spanish ahead of the execution. Mr Solano’s wife and daughter sobbed and told the inmate they loved him.

“The harm that I did to your dad and husband — I hope this brings you closure,” he said.

“I never wanted to hurt any of you all.”

He told his sister and several friends in English that he loved them. “No matter what, remember my promise,” Garcia said.

“No matter what, I will always be with you.”

As the dose of pentobarbital began, he winced, raised his head and then shook it. He gurgled once and snored once before his movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 12 minutes later, at 6:26pm.

Mr Solano’s wife, Ana, and her daughter raised their arms in an apparent prayer inside a death chamber witness room. Afterwards, Ana Solano said she wished the execution had not taken place and that she accepted Garcia’s apology because it came “from his heart.”

She said a person deserves to survive so they can share what they learn from their mistakes with others in similar situations.

“It’s about God. It’s about Jesus,” she said.

In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Garcia acknowledged he shot Mr Solano but denied the robbery, an accompanying felony that made it a capital case.

Garcia, who was linked to at least eight aggravated robberies and two attempted murders in the weeks before and after Mr Solano’s death, also insisted jurors had unfairly penalised him because he didn’t take the witness stand in his own defence at trial.

Garcia was linked to at least eight aggravated robberies and two attempted murders in the weeks before he shot Hugo Solano. Picture: Mike GraczykSource:Supplied

The US Supreme Court refused to review Garcia’s case in March. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, in a 5-2 vote, refused a clemency request from Garcia last week.

The execution was the 11th this year in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any other U.S. state.

Evidence at the 2000 trial and testimony from a companion identified Garcia, who was 18 at the time of the killing and a street gang member, as the ringleader of four men involved in Solano’s shooting and robbery. The slaying and string of other violent crimes tied to Garcia convinced a Harris County jury he should be put to death.

Garcia, his two cousins and another man had already carried out a carjacking when they spotted the 36-year-old Solano early on Sept. 17, 1998, getting into his van to go to work.

A jail cell on death row, where prison inmates await execution, is seen at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. Picture: Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Dept of Criminal Justice/Handout via ReutersSource:Reuters

Eleazar Mendoza, who was sentenced to 55 years in prison for aggravated robbery, testified that Garcia approached Mr Solano and pointed a gun. Mendoza said Garcia ordered Mr Solano to surrender his money then shot him when he refused.

Garcia told AP that it was Mendoza’s idea to rob Mr Solano and that Mr Solano escalated the confrontation by resisting.

Garcia was arrested more than a week later when he dropped a gun while getting out of a car that police had pulled over for a broken headlight. He was released but arrested again when the gun was matched to Mr Solano’s slaying.

Another defendant, Raymond McBen, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for aggravated robbery and paroled a year ago. The fourth man charged, Gabriel Morales, was given a life sentence for capital murder.

Three more Texas inmates are scheduled for execution in upcoming weeks.