HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- Texas on Tuesday executed a man convicted for a one-night spree of killing and robbery in which he shot four people to death.

Juan Rodriguez Chavez, 34, was executed by lethal injection for the July 2, 1995, string of mayhem.

Chavez and a teen-age accomplice killed five people and injured three others in Dallas before the sun rose, and police eventually linked Chavez to a dozen killings, Reuters repoirted.

Chavez, nicknamed "the thrill killer," became the 13th inmate executed in Texas this year, which is by far the nation's leader in terms of capital punishment. He was the first of two set to be executed the state in as many days.

As he lay strapped to the gurney in the death house at the state prison in downtown Huntsville, Chavez apologized to the families of his victims and professed his newfound religious beliefs. "To the media, I would like to for you to tell the victims and their loved ones that I am truly, truly sorry for taking their loved ones' lives," he said. "And I hope they will find it in their heart to forgive me for what I did to them."

Police said the events of July 2 were part of four-month crime spree during which Chavez killed at least a dozen people and carried out eight armed robberies. He was on parole from a 15-year sentence for murder at the time.

Chaves first killed Jose Morales, 40, and stole his wallet, before driving a stolen car to a nearby construction site and shooting security guard Susan Ferguson.

He ran over her head with the car after she died, and then drove to an apartment complex where he and his accomplice shot and paralyzed another security guard.

The two then attacked three men, with Chavez killing one and the teen injuring the others. To round out the night of slaughter, Chavez killed a man and injured a woman sitting in a truck before driving off with both victims inside.

After pushing the man's body out of the truck, he parked the vehicle at a remote riverside location and ordered his accomplice to shoot the woman. Chavez ran over her already dead body and torched the truck.

His accomplice testified against Chavez at trial and was jailed for aggravated robbery.

Chavez made no request for his last meal.

He was the 302nd inmate executed since Texas resumed capital punishment in 1982, six years after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a national death penalty ban.

On Wednesday, Texas is slated to execute Robert Charles Ladd, condemned to death for beating a 38-year-old woman to death with a hammer in 1996 after raping her.