Ronnie Paul Threadgill contended his trial lawyers were deficient and instructions to his jury in 2002 were improper when he was given a death sentence for the slaying of 17-year-old Dexter McDonald in Navarro County, south of Dallas.
Evidence showed McDonald was a passenger in car in April 2001 when Threadgill ran up and began shooting, fatally wounding him in the chest.
One of McDonald's companions got out as Threadgill, an ex-con with multiple convictions, jumped in and began driving away. Witnesses said Threadgill stopped, pulled McDonald out and sped off.
He does not have an execution date.
