Mark Soliz was sentenced to death by lethal injection on Tuesday evening for the 2010 slaying of Nancy Weatherly during a robbery at her home near Godley, Texas

A Texas death row inmate has been executed for fatally shooting a 61-year-old grandmother at her North Texas home nearly a decade ago during an eight-day spate of crimes.

Mark Anthony Soliz received a lethal injection Tuesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville.

The 37-year-old Soliz was condemned for the 2010 slaying of Nancy Weatherly during a robbery at her home near Godley.

Appeals courts had turned down requests by Soliz's attorneys to stop the execution.

The lawyers had argued Soliz is intellectually disabled due to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder which would have disqualified him from the death penalty.

Prosecutors portrayed Soliz as a dangerous individual who killed Weatherly for a 'pittance of property.'

Soliz was the 15th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. and the sixth in Texas.

Soliz, who chose not to file a last-second appeal to the United States Supreme Court, was apologetic with his final statement towards the family of the victim Nancy Hatch Weatherly.

Nancy Weatherly, a 61-year-old grandmother, was fatally shot at her North Texas home nearly a decade ago during an eight-day spate of crimes that included thefts and another killing

'I want to apologize for the grief and the pain that I caused y'all,' Soliz said to the two members of the Weatherly family in attendance.

'I've been considering changing my life. It took me 27 years to do so. I don't know if me passing will bring y'all comfort for the pain and suffering I caused y'all. I'm at peace.'

Nine more executions are scheduled this year in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state.

State and federal appeals courts and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles turned down requests by Soliz's attorneys to stop his execution, with the most recent denial coming on Monday. His lawyers filed no other appeals, including to the U.S. Supreme Court, on Tuesday.

Soliz was the 15th inmate put to death this year in the U.S. It was the sixth execution in Texas and the second in as many weeks in the state. He is pictured here in 2012

Soliz attorneys attempted to avoid the death penalty by telling the judge that he suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and should have his life spared

WHAT IS FASD? Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is an umbrella term describing the range of effects that can appear in a person whose mother drank alcohol while pregnant. Alcohol can cause problems for a developing baby throughout pregnancy, including before a woman knows she's pregnant. The CDC has identified 0.2 to 1.5 infants with FAS for every 1,000 live births in certain areas of the United States. However, few estimates for the full range of FASDs are available. Based on community studies using physical examinations, experts estimate that the full range of FASDs in the US might number as high two to five per 100 school children (or between two and five percent of the population). Conditions can range from mild to severe: Abnormal facial features (such as a smooth ridge between the nose and upper lip)

Small head size

Shorter-than-average height

Low body weight

Poor coordination

Hyperactive behavior

Difficulty with attention

Poor memory

Difficulty in school (especially with math)

Learning disabilities

Speech and language delays

Intellectual disability or low IQ

Poor reasoning and judgment skills

Sleep and sucking problems as a baby

Vision or hearing problems

Problems with the heart, kidneys, or bones There are no tests to diagnose FASD, and therefore doctors must rely on physical or mental signs. Typically what is looked for are abnormal facial features; lower-than-average height, weight, or both; and central nervous system problems. FASD is a lifelong disability for which there is no cure. There are many types of treatment options, including medication to help with some symptoms, behavior and education therapy, parent training, and other alternative approaches. Advertisement

'I have represented Mr. Soliz for many years. Every legal tool in my kit was deployed to prevent this execution. The hope endures, the fight goes on, and the cause never dies,' Seth Kretzer, one of Soliz's appellate attorneys, said in a statement.

Soliz's lawyers had argued he suffered from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, which left him with brain damage. His attorneys said the disorder is the 'functional equivalent' of conditions already recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as disqualifying exemptions to the death penalty, such as intellectual disability.

'Our argument was the Supreme Court is extending that doctrine to fetal alcohol syndrome,' Kretzer said.

Prosecutors portrayed Soliz as a dangerous individual who killed Weatherly for a 'pittance of property.'

Kretzer had argued in court documents that heavy drinking by Soliz's mother during her pregnancy resulted in numerous problems for the inmate, including impulsivity, learning difficulties, and an IQ of 75 that is 'considered borderline impaired.'

An IQ of 70 or below is generally considered to be intellectually disabled.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, combined with a chaotic and troubled childhood that included living with drugs and prostitution, left Soliz entering 'adult life ill-prepared,' Kretzer wrote.

Jurors at his 2012 trial as well as previous appeals court rulings rejected Soliz's claims that his actions were due to the impacts of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

At his trial, prosecutors said Soliz and another man, Jose Ramos, committed at least 13 crimes in the Fort Worth area over eight days in June 2010.

After fatally shooting a deliveryman around 6am on June 29, 2010, the duo later that morning drove in a stolen car to Weatherly's home.

Prosecutors say Soliz and Ramos forced their way into the home at gunpoint and ransacked the place, taking a television, cellphones and credit cards.

Prosecutors say Weatherly begged for her life and pleaded that Soliz not take her deceased mother's jewelry box before she was shot in the back of the head.

A friend of Soliz's told jurors Soliz had bragged to her about killing an 'old lady' in a house in Godley, had laughed about the incident and ridiculed the lady's 'country' accent.

Weatherly begged for her life and pleaded that Soliz not take her deceased mother's jewelry box before she was shot in the back of the head.

Police say Soliz confessed to killing Weatherly and ballistics and fingerprint evidence also tied him to the slaying.

Ramos was sentenced to life in prison for the deaths of Weatherly and the deliveryman, Ruben Martinez.

The Supreme Court in 2002 barred the execution of mentally disabled people but has given states some discretion to decide how to determine intellectual disability. However, justices have wrestled with how much discretion to allow.

The Texas Attorney General's Office said in court documents filed earlier this month that the Supreme Court has not held that individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder are exempt from capital punishment and that Soliz has not presented an expert opinion stating he is intellectually disabled.

The attorney general's office said in its motion with the 5th U.S. Circuit of Appeals that a Fort Worth police detective testified Soliz was 'more sophisticated, calculated, and dangerous' than his partner Ramos and that 'Soliz was the most dangerous person with whom he had come into contact' in his 16 years as a police officer.