An Alabama man convicted of killing a woman during a 1997 gas station robbery was put to death Thursday after apologizing to his victim's family and pleas from the woman's son to spare his life.

Geoffrey Todd West, 50, was executed at William C. Holman Correctional Facility by nitrogen gas , a method Alabama began using last year . It was one of two executions of the night in the country, as Texas put to death a man convicted of killing his girlfriend's 13-month-old daughter.

West was convicted of capital murder in the 1997 killing of Margaret Parrish Berry, 33.

West said "No sir" when asked by the warden if he had final words. Strapped to the gurney with a blue-rimmed gas mask covering his face, he gave a thumbs-up in the direction of his attorney as the execution began at

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