READ KENNETH MOSLEY'S HISTORY AND OUR UPDATES ON HIS CASE FROM JULY 2009 LEADING UP TO HIS EXECUTION ON JANUARY 7, 2010.

Texas executed its first person of 2010 today and the 448th since 1982. The person's name was Kenneth Mosley.

Next week, Texas is set to execute Gary Johnson.

From the Houston Chronicle:

A man convicted of gunning down a Dallas-area police officer during an attempted bank robbery was put to death Thursday evening in the first execution of the year in the nation's busiest death penalty state.

Kenneth Mosley, 51, was condemned for the February 1997 slaying of David Moore, an officer in the Dallas suburb of Garland. His lethal injection was carried out after his legal appeals became exhausted.

The punishment had been stalled twice last year by technical issues and court appeals.

Mosley shook his head once when asked by a warden if he had any final statement. As the lethal drugs began taking effect, he snored a few times, then gasped slightly. Nine minutes later, at 6:16 p.m. CST, he was pronounced dead.

Moore's widow was among the people in the chamber to watch Mosley die. He did not acknowledge her presence.

Earlier this week, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied his request for clemency.

Texas put 24 convicted killers to death last year, accounting for nearly half of the 52 executions carried out in the U.S. Another convicted killer was scheduled to be executed in Texas next week.

Texas Moratorium Network