Nancy Judith Harris and her three grandchildren had a special name for Fridays they spent together when buying trinkets at Dollar Tree, ate McDonald’s and played a few hours in the house in Dallas.
They called them “Nini Days” based on the name they used to their grandmother Harris.
“She liked it. Girls loved it,” Harris ‘daughter and girls’ mother Elizabeth Harris told Usa Today.
For many years Fridays were Nini days. Until 2012 May 20
Like any other Sunday, Harris opened a Fina Whip-in amenities store that worked for about five years. However, instead of dressing as a normal, Harris left the store with an ambulance, and a second or fourth degree burns covered most of the body after the robber poured a lighter fluid over his head and set fire.
Harris succumbed to Burns when, five days later, he was eliminated by life. She was 76 years old.
Now 13 years later, Harris convicted killer – Matthew Lee Johnson – is expected to be a deadly injection on Tuesday, May 20, Johnson never claimed innocence, and his lawyer says he is very regretted by the murder.
To honor her memory, the USA Today looks at Harris’ tragic death and, more importantly, her beautiful life.
Nancy Judith Harris Dallas’s Cowboys AT&T Stadium Arlington, Texas. Harris died at the age of 76 in 2012. May 25
What happened to Nancy Harris?
2012 May 20 Harris worked as a civil servant at the Fina Whip-in Dallas Garland suburb.
Johnson entered the store and behind the sales stall, where Harris stood, and then poured a lighter fluid over his head, the court documents said.
When Harris tried to open the pancreas, Johnson took two lighters from the screen, two packs of cigarettes and tried to remove the ring from Harris’ finger. The court documents state that when the ring was not distracted, Johnson licked his fingers to help push it out.
When Harris finally opened the register, Johnson took all cash and several coins from the tray based on court documents.
Fina Whip-in gas station and amenities shop in 3405 Broadway Boulevard, Garland, Texas.
Almost immediately after Johnson took the money, the surveillance videos showed that the flame was shooting over the register as Johnson ignited Harris. The court documents state that Harris, who is involved in the flame, ran to a nearby sink to try to release them.
At the same time, Johnson “calmly” left the amenities shop, stopping to pick up candy, the court documents say.
Unable to spend the fire, Harris went outside and screamed for help.
Two police officers – a firefighter and a paramedic answered, extinguishing Harris and taking her to the hospital with an ambulance. Harris supported a second or fourth degree burning over 40% of her body, including face, hands, hands, legs and chest.
The Texas Matthew Lee Johnson is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, May 20, for the murder of Nancy Harris on 2012, May
Harris was placed on a fan due to the severity of her neck and facial injuries, but her treatment team found she was not going to survive.
2012 May 25 Harris was removed from life support and died. She left four sons, John, Bryan, Scott and Chris. Bryan died at the age of 64 in February.
Nancy Harris loved his grandchildren Dallas cowboy
A few years before her death, Harris was spent on Friday afternoon from three grandchildren Lorela, Hannah and Olivia Harris, who are now 23, 21 and 18.
Her grandchildren were probably one of Harris’ greatest pleasures, Harris’ daughter and girls’ mother Elizabeth Harris told USA Today.
“She didn’t miss anything from the children. If her grandchildren were an event, she was there,” Elizabeth said.
Around a time when Elizabeth and Harris’ son Chris got married in 2000, Harris scared his health and the doctors told her she needed to reduce sodium. Initially, Harris tried to cut out all the salt.
“(She) just wanted to make sure she was there to watch the children finished and married and all things,” Elizabeth said. “She took it seriously when they (doctors) told her, ‘You need to take care of your health.’ After that, she was as healthy as much as possible to be there because of her grandchildren and her family. ”
When she was not with her grandchildren, Harris entertained Dallas cowboy. Elizabeth described her late stepdaughter as a fan of Die Hard.
“Nancy was not a very tall man. A very good day she was about 4 feet-11 and broke a ceiling fan joyful cowboy,” Elizabeth said. “She jumped so high that she struck.”
“Everyone knew who she was”
Elizabeth said Harris worked for Fina Whip-in for about five or six years to make extra money to retire, Elizabeth said. She worked part -time, but made sure she had Fridays on Nini Days.
The South Garland High School is around the corner from the amenities shop, and Elizbeth said her stepdaughter had a good relationship with students who stopped before school.
“The kids loved her,” Elizabeth said. “I mean that everyone knew at the NANCY gas station. Even now, 13 years later, I’ll mention, and something like: ‘Is it your stepfather? “Everyone knew who she was.”
Ready for the end
As Johnson’s execution approaches, Elizabeth said she and her family were ready to finish it.
“It’s just up to … We’re just tired and we just want to end with it and do it,” she said. “The truth is that there is no such thing as ‘treatment’. You are not healing.
She said she and her husband Chris would be among Johnson’s execution witnesses directly north of Houston, like the other two Harris living sons – Scot and John and Scot’s daughter Shelby.
She said one of Harris’ grandchildren was going to walk in the graduation phase of his high school within two weeks.
“And (nancy) will not be there. Our oldest married, it wasn’t,” she added. “These are all those little things. She would have been there. She wouldn’t have missed that world.”
Contribution: Nick Penzenstadler
Greta Cross is a national fashion reporter USA Today. The idea of the story? Send her email The letter [email protected];
This article initially appeared in the USA Today: The beloved Texas grandmother obeyed the robber’s demands. Then he set fire to her