A Texas execution this February carried an image that many people won’t forget.

Steven Lawayne Nelson, 37, died by lethal injection in Huntsville after a 2012 conviction for the 2011 murder of Pastor Clint Dobson during a robbery at NorthPointe Baptist Church. Nelson denied killing the pastor and continued to claim he only served as a lookout. Courts rejected his appeals, and the state carried out the sentence on February 5.

In the witness area, Nelson’s wife, Helene Noa Dubois, stood behind the glass. She had married him just two weeks earlier. She also brought their small white dog, “Monkey,” and lifted the pet so it could face the window during Nelson’s final moments.

Nelson spent his last minutes speaking directly to her. He told her he loved her. He asked her to hug Monkey for him. Then he tried to steady her with simple words. “It is what it is,” he said. He urged her to enjoy life.

As the drug began to take effect, he asked to “go to sleep.” Witnesses reported trembling before officials pronounced him dead 24 minutes after the injection started.

The case still stirs debate about guilt, punishment, and mercy. Yet the scene at the window tells a different story. Even in the harshest setting, love can appear. It can also carry a heavy cost for the people left behind.