William Robinson, 49, was the ninth inmate on Texas's death row to take his own life since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1974 and the second in a week, the Houston Chronicle reported. He had been transferred to a prison in Fort Bend County for mental health treatment.

"William was a very seriously mentally ill man and had been for many, many years," said Michael B. Charlton, a federal public defender in Las Vegas, who formerly represented Robinson. "That's no secret. ... He was always being transferred."

Robinson used a sheet to hang himself early Friday. He was declared brain-dead at a local hospital and died in late afternoon after his family requested the removal of life support.

He was convicted of killing Steven Creasey, who prosecutors said was shot while trying to protect a woman he was with who was dragged off and raped.

In the other recent Texas death row inmate suicide, Jesus Flores, sentenced to death for the 2001 murder of a Harris County sheriff's deputy, cut his throat with a razor Jan. 29.