Convicted killers in Texas and Mississippi were put to death Wednesday minutes apart, bringing the number of executions in the United States to 14 this year. Texas executed Derrick Sonnier (pictured) for the brutal murders in 1991 of a young woman and her 2-year-old son and Mississippi executed Dale Leo Bishop for the 1998 beating death of another man.

Sonnier was scheduled to die seven weeks ago but his execution was stayed when his attorneys challenged the legality of the lethal injection procedure in Texas. That appeal was eventually rejected.

After stalking Melody Flowers, 27, for months and having his sexual advances rejected, Sonnier raped, stabbed, strangled and beat her to death. He beat her with a hammer until the handle broke.

He then turned on her two-year-old son Patrick stabbing him to death and dumping his body in a bathtub filled with water with his dead mother.

Derrick Sonnier, 40, claimed he was innocent. He declined to make a statement before his execution.

Bishop Did Not Strike Fatal Blows

Dale Leo Bishop was executed in Mississippi for his part in the beating death of Marcus James Gentry in 1998. Bishop admitted to taking part in the attack on Gentry, but his accomplice, Jessie Johnson, actually killed Gentry with a hammer.

Johnson admitted that he was the one who used the hammer to kill Gentry. He was tried separately from Bishop and was sentenced to life without parole. Bishop's attorneys argued that he should not have been executed because it was Johnson who actually killed Gentry and he was not executed.

During his trial, Bishop waved the penalty phase and asked to be executed. He later changed his mind after in prison he was diagnosed and treated for bipolar disorder.

Bishop did make a final statement in which he apologized to Gentry's family and mentioned the presidential campaign.

"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.

See Also:
Convicted Killers in Texas, Miss., Put to Death

More Information:
Texas Death Row Inmate Derrick Sonnier
The Death Penalty

Free Newsletter:
Get the Crime & Punishment Newsletter

More Crime News:
Top Stories
Current Investigations and Trials
Unsolved Cases

^{Photo: Mug Shot}