Texas executes man who killed his young son

Timothy Wayne Adams killed his 19-month-old son Tim during a standoff with police that followed an argument with his estranged wife

The boy died from two bullet wounds to the chest.

"My wife was hurtin' me, she was keeping him away from me," Adams told a police officer, according to the Texas attorney general's office. "I was gonna take him out and me too."

Adams' family members and lawyers argued that his actions on that day were out of character and that he was not a danger to anyone. Last week, they publicly called on the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Rick Perry to spare Adams' life, saying the family had already suffered enough with the loss of one relative. The board, which makes recommendations to the governor, rejected the request.

According to the attorney general's office, evidence of the threat from Adams included testimony by his wife that Adams followed her and once told her that he hoped to catch her with another man so that he could kill them "right then and there".

Adams was pronounced dead at 6:31 p.m. Tuesday, said Jason Clark, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

He did not make a final statement before the lethal injection. He just stared at his family members, Clark said.

For his last meal, Adams requested fried chicken, french fries, lemon cake, root beer and Sprite, Clark said.

The execution was the eighth in the United States this year.