Death Row Man Loses Appeal With High Court

HOUSTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to review an appeal from a 27-year-old Houston man on death row for the shooting deaths of a young couple during a carjacking nearly 10 years ago.

The high court, without comment Monday, rejected the case of Dexter Darnell Johnson.

A Harris County jury condemned him for the June 2006 slayings of 23-year-old Maria Aparece, of Sugar Land, and her 17-year-old boyfriend Huy Ngo, of Houston. Aparece was from the Philippines and a pre-nursing student. Ngo had moved to Houston with his family from France.

When his sentence was announced in court, Johnson threw a chair and had to be tackled by sheriff's deputies. Testimony showed he was leader of a gang responsible for several slayings.

He does not yet have an execution date.