AUSTIN, Texas — A group of Austinites protested against the death penalty on Tuesday with a march to the state Capitol.
It comes as Texas death row inmate Steven Nelson is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday for the murder of a North Texas pastor.
Nelson, 37, was sentenced to death in 2012 after being found guilty of beating and suffocating an Arlington Baptist church pastor, Clint Dobson, the year before.
Police previously said robbery was Nelson’s motive.
Prosecutors asked for the death penalty. Jurors had the option to give Nelson life in prison without parole but ultimately chose the death penalty.
At Tuesday’s protest, priests and pastors from Austin and surrounding areas denounced the scheduled execution. They said they believe the death penalty is “a horrific contradiction of their faith.”
One of the pastors at the protest said there are other ways to get justice.
“We need to have some sort of system that is truly a correctional system and not just punishment and retribution and revenge,” said Katheryn Barlow-Williams, a pastor at the Central Presbyterian Church.
The group of pastors also delivered thousands of signatures opposing Nelson’s execution to the Governor’s Office as part of the protest.
Nelson’s execution would be the first Texas execution this year.
Last year, Nelson’s spiritual advisor, Rev. Jeff Hood, called for the case to be revisited.
“It’s very easy to call him a monster,” Hood said. “But we’re the monsters.”
Hood, who has witnessed the execution of eight individuals across the country, has become one of the loudest voices against the death penalty in this case and others.
“We’re better than this,” Hood said, calling for the state to reconsider its approach to justice. “The state of Texas is not going to be any better having killed Steven Nelson.”
WFAA contributed to this report.