Who was Travis Mullis? Texas executes 38-year-old man for brutal murder of his young son in 2008

Mullis was executed by lethal injection. His death was pronounced at 7:01 p.m., Amanda Hernandez, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, confirmed, according to USA Today.

Who was Travis James Mullis?

Mullis, 38, was accused of killing his three-month-old son, Alijah. The baby was reportedly abused, trampled to death and abandoned on the Galveston Seawall, a popular tourist destination south of Houston.

Mullis was 21 at the time of the crime. He said he reached a “breaking point” after the baby wouldn't stop crying.

The night before the murder, according to court records, Mullis had argued with his then-girlfriend and mother of his child, Caren Kohberger, after trying to get his roommate's 8-year-old daughter to pull down her pants. That morning, Mullis drove south toward Galveston and took Alijah with him, apparently wanting to clear his head. When the baby began crying and Mullis couldn't get it to stop, he molested and choked it. He then pulled Alijah out of the car, laid him on the ground and stomped on his head. He fled the state after hurling the car seat and the baby's body to the other side of the seawall.

However, a few days later, Mullis turned himself in and confessed to authorities in Philadelphia. He was then extradited to Texas, where he was sentenced to death for murder in March 2011. He had previously waived his right to appeal the death sentence.

In his final words, Mullis thanked and apologized to his loved ones and thanked the people who “accepted me in my best and worst moments as the man I have become.”

“I want to thank the chaplains, the warden and the prison staff for all the changes that are being made throughout the system,” Mullis said. “Even the men on death row who have shown that it is possible to be rehabilitated and not be seen as a threat and not be the men we were when we came into the system. We have changed. We are not the same.”

Mullis added that he did not regret taking the “legal steps” to speed up his death sentence. “I regret the decision to take my son's life. I apologize to my son's mother and the victim's family,” he said. “I bear no ill will toward the court, the justice system, the prosecution or the execution protocol. The morality of execution is a matter between you and God… It was my decision that brought me here. I am ready, Warden.”

Mullis' defense attorney Shawn Nolan said his client “always accepted responsibility” for the crime. “Texas will kill a reformed man tonight. He never had a chance to live, having been abandoned by his parents and then severely abused by his adoptive father starting at age three,” Nolan wrote. “During his decade and a half on death row, he spent countless hours working toward his redemption. And he did it.” He added that the Mullis Texas wanted to kill was “long gone.”