STEVEN NELSON, WHO KILLED PASTOR CLINT DOBSON, 28, AT THE NORTHPOINTE BAPTIST CHURCH IN ARLINGTON,  TEXAS, AND WHO BRUTALLY BEAT DOBSON’S SECRETARY, IS ABOUT TO BE EXECUTED

Pictured: Clint Dobson’s laugh is still vivid in my memory, his ridiculously random and hilarious staff meeting emails continue to make me laugh, and I’m still humbled to have served beside him and to call him friend.

DANIEL WHYTE III, PRESIDENT OF GOSPEL LIGHT SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL, SAYS PRAY FOR THE PASTOR’S WIDOW AND FAMILY AND THE CHURCH FOR THIS EXECUTION WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE TRADITIONAL WEDNESDAY NIGHT PRAYER MEETING NIGHT, AND PRAY FOR THE SOUL OF THIS YOUNG MAN AND THAT SOMEBODY AT THE EXECUTION POINT WILL SHARE THE GOSPEL WITH THIS YOUNG MAN ONE MORE TIME BEFORE HE GOES OUT INTO ETERNITY.

• The Rev. Clint Dobson, 28, was murdered in 2011 during a robbery at Northpointe Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas.
• Steven Nelson, who confessed to participating in the robbery but claimed his accomplices committed the murder, is scheduled to be executed for Dobson’s death.
• Friends and mentors remember Dobson as a devout Christian from a young age, known for his kindness, humor, and dedication to his faith.
• Dobson’s former church supports Nelson’s execution, sparking debate about capital punishment and Christian values.

The Rev. Clint Dobson had a dream for his Texas church: to fill it with young families and children and spread the gospel that had changed the course of his own life at the age of 8.

But Dobson never really got that chance. He was murdered inside his own church at the age of 28 during a robbery on March 3, 2011, leaving behind a grief-stricken wife and a shell-shocked congregation.

“He was a fine, young preacher, but a much better person,” Dennis Wiles, the pastor of First Baptist Arlington Church who hand-picked Dobson to lead Northpointe Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, said at a 2011 news conference, according to KXAS-TV. “He was our friend and our brother in Christ.”

Now 14 years later, Texas is set to execute the man convicted of killing Dobson. Steven Nelson admitted to taking part in the robbery but has always maintained that two accomplices committed the murder.

The pastor’s young widow, Laura Dobson, sobbed on the stand during Nelson’s trial, saying that she and her husband were looking forward to the life they wanted to build, according to the Forth Worth Star Telegram.

“We always tried to see the good in people,” she told jurors. “I didn’t know this much evil existed in the world.”

As Nelson’s execution approaches, USA TODAY is looking back at the crime, who Dobson was and what made him special.