Richard Hinojosa apologized to his victim’s family before being executed Thursday night inside the Huntsville “Walls” Unit.

“I know you may hate me for whatever reason,” he said, looking at the family of 29-year-old Terry Wright. “But, the Lord says hate no one. I hope you find peace in your heart.”

Hinojosa’s execution is No. 18 this year in Texas, the U.S.’s busiest capital punishment state. If all scheduled executions are carried out, Texas will execute 27 people in 2006.

Hinojosa, 44, looked at his family and apologized for “not being the man you wanted me to be.”

“I love you very much. Dianne, Virginia, Toby and Irene, I love all of you,” he said, looking at his friends and family witnessing his execution. “I am going to be free. I am going to heaven.

“Please be strong, and I love you all,” he said.

Hinojosa was convicted for the May 1994 abduction, robbery and murder of Wright in San Antonio. According to Texas Department of Criminal Justice reports, Hinojosa abducted Wright from her home in her own car after she caught him in the act of burglarizing her residence. He then drove Wright to a secluded area where she was robbed, sexually assaulted and stabbed her with what was believed to be a screwdriver. Hinojosa was linked to the murder through DNA testing.

After finishing his final statement, Hinojosa said, “Kick the tires and light the fires. I’m going home to see my son and my mom.”

Once the lethal dose began to flow, Hinojosa began chanting a prayer and repeating Yahweh before gasping and sputtering. He then exhaled deeply. He was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m., eight minutes after the lethal dose began.

While the victim’s family declined to give a press conference, the inmate’s family was visibly distressed. One female witness began to sob as Hinojosa took his last breath.

While every inmate is allowed a last meal request, many do not make one. As last meal requests go, Hinojosa had a lengthy one, requesting a chef salad with ranch dressing, French fries, onion rings, 12 pieces of fried chicken, five jalapeno nachos with chili cheese, four fried eggs over easy, six Cokes, six Big Reds and ketchup.

Hinojosa is the second of four inmates scheduled for execution in August. The next is Aug. 24 when Justin Fuller is set to die for a conviction of abducting, robbing and fatally shooting a man in Tyler in 1997.

Find a list of scheduled executions in the state of Texas on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Web site at http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/deathrow.htm.