Steven Lawayne NelsonFORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - Witnesses say a man convicted of killing a North Texas pastor in his church strangled a mentally ill fellow Tarrant County Jail inmate to death and wrecked a jail day room.
The testimony came as a Tarrant County jury heard testimony Wednesday in Fort Worth on whether Steven Lawayne Nelson should receive the death penalty or serve life in prison without parole.
The 25-year-old Nelson was convicted Monday in the suffocation death of the Rev. Clint Dobson at Arlington's NorthPointe Baptist Church in March 2011. Nelson also beat the church secretary so severely that she suffered a broken jaw and memory problems.
A forensics expert testified Wednesday that Nelson's DNA was found under the fingernails of inmate Johnathan Holden, who was found hanging by a jail blanket in his cell.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
