Bio

Mario Rashad Swain was born on February 28, 1979, in Los Angeles, California. He spent his early years in California before moving to Texas. Mario had a troubled childhood. His parents divorced when he was young, and he lived with different family members as a child, including his grandparents. His mother remarried, and during his youth, Mario moved back and forth between California and Texas.

Growing up, Mario faced various challenges. Reports suggest that he experienced some form of trauma in his early years. There was an incident noted during his teenage years involving cruelty to animals, which may have contributed to his troubled behavior. He completed only 12 years of education and took on work as a laborer.

During his late teens and early twenties, Mario began to engage in criminal behavior. He did not have a significant prior criminal record until the events that led to his arrest in December 2002 when he was 23 years old. Before then, he had a period of stability as he worked in a residential treatment home as an after-hours house sitter.

By the time of the crime that led to his arrest, Mario was living in Longview, Texas, where he faced increased difficulties that culminated in a significant and tragic event.

Murder Story

On December 27, 2002, Mario Rashad Swain committed a murder during a burglary in Gregg County, Texas. His victim was 44-year-old Lola Nixon. When Nixon did not show up for a dinner appointment, her friends became concerned and called the police.

When the police arrived at her home, they found signs of forced entry and blood. They began investigating a truck parked nearby, registered to Swain's grandfather. The grandfather informed police that Swain had been using the truck.

Detectives contacted Swain, who worked at a residential treatment home. At first, Swain denied any involvement. However, after further questioning, he confessed to the crime. He claimed that he and an accomplice, Casey Porter, broke into Nixon's home. When Nixon returned, Porter attacked her. Swain then stated that they put her body in the trunk of her car and drove to a remote location near the airport, where they abandoned her vehicle.

Swain led police to a field where they found blood and other evidence, but not Nixon’s body. He was brought to the police station where he provided a series of statements. During these statements, he implicated himself in the crime, admitting that he hit Nixon with a tire tool and left her in the trunk while she was still alive but barely conscious.

Later, he directed detectives to a vehicle containing Nixon’s body. The medical examiner concluded that she had died from blunt force trauma and sharp force injuries, along with probable strangulation.

Swain's truck was also searched, revealing clothing with Nixon's blood, her credit cards, and other belongings. The police recovered the tire tool used in the attack from a dumpster where Swain had disposed of it.

On November 19, 2003, a jury found Swain guilty of capital murder. He was sentenced to death on April 8, 2004. After years of appeals, including challenges to the admissibility of his statements and claims of ineffective counsel, all were denied.

On November 8, 2012, Mario Swain was executed by lethal injection in Texas.