For their families, the brutal killings of Dennise Hayslip and Darren Cain have cast a long, dark shadow over their lives for nearly three decades. But one family member said they are able to ‘begin a new chapter’ this week with the execution of the man convicted of callously taking their lives. Charles Victor Thompson was put to death by lethal injection in Texas on Wednesday evening, closing a case that has lingered on since the late 1990s. Prosecutors say that Thompson acted out of jealousy when he returned to the home of Hayslip, his ex partner, in north Harris County and opened fire on the pair. The violence left Cain dead at the scene and Hayslip fatally wounded. She died a few days later in hospital. (Pictures: AP)
Killer Thompson, 55, was pronounced dead at 6.50pm inside the Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville, becoming the first person to be executed in the United States in 2026, Daily Mail reports. He’d spent 26 years on death row following his conviction for the double shooting. Witnesses say that a spiritual advisor prayed over before Thompson spoke from the gurney, offering a final statement that reflected on both his execution and his actions. ‘There are no winners in this situation,’ he said, addressing the room. (Picture: AP)
He added that his execution ‘creates more victims and traumatizes more people 28 years later.’ He also offered an apology, saying: ‘I’m sorry for what I did. I’m sorry for what happened, and I want to tell all of y’all, I love you and that keep Jesus in your life, keep Jesus first,’ he said. Observers later described him gasping loudly for air as the drug took effect. (Picture: AP)
Officials said that Thompson took roughly a dozen breaths before his body began to slow, with three snoring sounds heard as the sedative overwhelmed his nervous system. He was pronounced dead 22 minutes after all movement stopped. Among those watching was Dennis Cain, the father of Darren Cain, whobluntly said ‘He’s in hell’ when asked his thoughts on what he’d just witnessed. For the Cain family and the relatives of Dennise Hayslip, the execution marked the end of a long legal process tied to a night of sudden violence. (Picture: Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
Thompson and Hayslip had been in a relationship for more than a year before things began to deteriorate. The court heard that his behaviour became increasingly controlling, adding that Thompson ‘became increasingly possessive, jealous and abusive’ before Hayslip ended the relationship. After she began dating Cain, Thompson showed up at her apartment at around 3am on the night of the killings in April 1998. Police were called and removed him from the property. (Picture: Facebook)
Just a few hours later, he returned. This time, he was armed. Cain was shot and killed inside the apartment. Hayslip was critically wounded and rushed to hospital, where she survived for a full week before succumbing to her injuries and dying. Thompson was arrested and later convicted in 1999 of murdering both victims. A jury ordered him to die, though that sentence was briefly overturned before being reinstated after a new punishment trial in 2005. (Picture: Facebook)
Thompson’s case drew additional press attention that year when he rather brazenly escaped from the Harris County Jail in Houston. He later admitted slipping out of his orange jumpsuit after meeting with his lawyer, leaving an unlocked room and flashing a fake ID badge made from his prison card. He walked out the front door totally unnoticed. His freedom, thankfully, only lasted a few days. Thompson was arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana, while attempting to wire money from overseas to flee over the northern border to Canada. ‘I got to smell the trees, feel the wind in my hair, grass under my feet, see the stars at night,’ he later recalled. (Picture: AP)
In the days leading up to his execution, Thompson made repeated attempts to try and stop the process. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles formally denied clemency on Monday. The Court of Criminal Appeals rejected his request to delay or overturn the sentence on Tuesday. About an hour before the execution, the US Supreme Court issued a brief order turning away his final appeal. His attorneys had argued he was not allowed to confront evidence about Hayslip’s cause of death. Courts disagreed, ruling her death would not have occurred but for his actions. (Picture: Facebook)
Prosecutors noted: ‘The Hayslip and Cain families have waited over 25 years for justice to occur.’ Hayslip’s son Wade travelled from Chicago to Houston to witness the execution. He described it as accountability for the lives Thompson destroyed. ‘It’s more of the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one,’ he said beforehand. ‘I’m looking forward to the new one.’ (Picture: Texas Department of Criminal Justice/AFP/Getty Images)
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