(Court TV) — Texas inmate Richard Hinojosa was executed by lethal injection Thursday for the 1994 murder and sexual assault of a San Antonio woman.

"I am going to be free. I am going to heaven," Hinojosa said, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Hinojosa also made a statement to the parents and brother of his victim, Terry Wright, a whom he stabbed to death when she 29. "I pray for you. Please find peace in your heart," he said. "I know you may hate me for whatever reason. The Lord says hate no one. I hope you find peace in your heart. I know my words cannot help you. I truly mean what I say."

When he finished his statement, he told prison officials, "Kick the tires and light the fire. I'm going home to see my son and my mom," according to the Chronicle.

Officials at the Huntsville prison administered a lethal injection at 6:11 p.m. CT. Hinojosa chanted a prayer during the procedure and was pronounced dead eight minutes later.

Prosecutors convinced jurors that DNA samples taken from the victim's body proved that Hinojosa raped and stabbed her to death on May 10, 1994. Hinojosa denied killing Wright , with whom he claimed he was having in an extramarital affair.

In a death-row interview with CourtTVnews.com, Hinojosa said he was prepared to die. "I don't look at [death] as being the final deal. The body is just a shell. For someone to cry over the shell and be sad for the shell is not what I believe in. The spirit, it lives on," he said. "Maybe this is something that the family needs to heal, even though, like I said, I claim my innocence, maybe this is something they need."