Texas executes a man by lethal injection for the 2003 murder of his mother

Texas has executed a death row inmate who strangled his mother to death and buried her body in her backyard, after the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against blocking his killing.

Tracy Beatty, 61, received a lethal injection on Wednesday evening at 6:39pm CT at the state’s death row facility in Huntsville – nicknamed the Walls Unit. 

His death was confirmed shortly after 7pm CT by Robert Dunham, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. 

Asked if he wanted to say some final words, Beatty said: ‘Yes, I just want to thank… I don’t want to leave you baby. See you when you get there. I love you. 

‘Thank you to all my brothers back on the unit for all the encouragement to help get my life right. Sunny, Blue, I love you brothers. See you on the other side.’

His execution was controversial: Beatty’s lawyers never contested the murder charges, but challenged the death penalty because they argued he was mentally ill.

Tracy Beatty, 61, was executed on Wednesday evening for strangling his mother to death and burying her body in her backyard in 2003

The director of the Death Penalty Information Center confirmed Beatty’s death shortly after 7pm CT

Beatty buried the body of his mother Carolyn Click (pictured), 62, in the backyard beside her motor home

Beatty has become the fourth inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 13th in the US. Texas’ final execution for the year is set to take place next week.

Last week, Beatty said he did not fear death.

‘I’ve already made my peace with the Man. So I know where I’m going,’ he told CBS19 from the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, where he spent most of his time in a cell besides two hours of recreation. ‘I’ll be in a lot better place than this.’ 

He said his mother’s death was an accident. ‘That’s why I’ve made my peace with the Man upstairs. I know I’ll see her again,’ he said.

Beatty buried the body of his mother Carolyn Click, 62, beside her mobile home about 115 miles southeast of Dallas, in a city called Whitehouse.

He then spent her money on drugs and alcohol, the state claims. 

He received a lethal injection on Wednesday evening at the state’s death row facility in Huntsville – nicknamed the Walls Unit

Beatty’s attorneys also argued that he was not eligible for the death penalty because the act did not constitute capital murder.

Capital murder requires aggravating circumstances such as killing a police officer or child, or being in the process of committing another crime.

Beatty was found guilty of capital murder because prosecutors argued he killed his mother during a home burglary and had entered her motor home without her consent.

Beatty was staying with his mother in November 2003 after being released from parole for intentionally harming his 18-month-old niece.

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When he returned home after a day of drinking he had an argument with his mother, he told CBS19 last week.

Beatty’s attorneys also attempted to argue that he is not mentally fit and therefore that the execution would be unconstitutional

He then grabbed her by the throat and strangled her. 

Beatty claimed he was not aware he had killed her until the next day. 

A jury decided his fate in 2004 and since then his execution had been delayed three times. 

His attorneys claimed he was living with her at the time of the fight, and therefore it could not have been a burglary.

Beatty had a ‘volatile and combative relationship’ with his mother, according to prosecutors. 

A neighbor testified during his trial that Click had told her the day she was last seen that she had told Beatty that day to move out after a fight. 

Lieanna Wilkerson testified that Click told her Beatty had assaulted her several times before, including once when he had ‘beaten her so severely that he had left her for dead.’

Wilkerson said Click had still been excited to have Beatty move back in with her in October 2003 so they could mend their relationship.

‘Several times [Beatty] had said he just wanted to shut her up, that he just wanted to choke her and shut her up,’ testified Wilkerson.

A jury decided Beatty’s fate in 2004 but since then his execution has been delayed three times. Wednesday was his fourth scheduled execution date

Beatty would become the fourth person to be executed by Texas this year. Its final execution of the year is scheduled for next week

Beatty’s attorneys also attempted to argue that he is not mentally fit and therefore that the execution would be unconstitutional.

His attorneys had argued he was being prevented from receiving a full examination to determine if he is intellectually disabled and possibly ineligible to be put to death.

They requested that state prison officials allow Beatty to have his handcuffs removed during mental health evaluations.

Their experts argued that having Beatty uncuffed during the tests is crucial to evaluating his mental health.

In their Supreme Court petition, Beatty’s lawyers said one expert who examined him found he is ‘clearly psychotic and has a complex paranoid delusional belief system’ and that he lives in a ‘complex delusional world’.

They also suggested he believes there is a ‘vast conspiracy of correctional officers who… ‘torture’ him via a device in his ear so he can hear their menacing voices.’

Last week US District Judge Charles Eskridge in Houston asked why Beatty’s lawyers had not raised any claim relating to his mental health during years of appeals and said requiring handcuffs during such an evaluation is ‘quite simply, a rational security concern.’

Forensic psychiatrists Dr. Edward Gripon and Dr. Tynus McNeel testified that Beatty’s behavior was consistent with the ‘lifelong condition of anti-social personality disorder.’

However, they concluded he was not mentally ill ‘to any significant degree’ and had an IQ of 100, ‘which places him in the middle of the population.’