(CNN) A Texas death row inmate continued to maintain his innocence up until he was executed Wednesday.

Larry Ray Swearingen was executed at 6:47 p.m. for the death of 19-year-old Melissa Trotter.

"Lord forgive them. They don't know what they are doing," he said in his last words.

Swearingen was sentenced to death in July 2000 for Trotter's abduction, rape and murder.

The Montgomery College student was last seen alive on December 8, 1998. Her body was found in the Sam Houston National Forest on January 2, 1999, with a torn pair of pantyhose tied around her neck.

This undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Larry Swearingen.

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