Texas executed Charles Victor Thompson on January 28th, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. by lethal injection for the brutal murder of his ex-girlfriend Glenda Dennis Hlip. After 27 years on death row, Thompson faced final justice for a crime marked by violence, a 𝓈𝒽𝓸𝒸𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 prison escape, and a harrowing killing spree that shook Houston.
In 1997, Thompson, 27, crossed paths with Glenda Dennis Hlip, a 39-year-old nail technician and mother, within Houston’s nightlife. Their initial friendship morphed into a volatile romance tainted by Thompson’s escalating 𝒹𝓇𝓊𝑔 addiction and violent tendencies. The cycle of 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 would soon spiral beyond repair.
Dennis, trapped in a toxic relationship dominated by Thompson’s jealousy and aggression, suffered repeated physical assaults. Visible bruises and a black eye were grim reminders of his cruelty. Despite his claims of “first-time” violence, the fear and control he imposed were relentless and unforgiving.
After enduring 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 for roughly a year, Dennis severed ties with Thompson, seeking freedom and safety in a new relationship with Darren Keith Kaine, a calm and protective bartender. Thompson refused to accept the breakup, initiating a chilling campaign of stalking and threats.
Thompson’s obsession reached a terrifying climax on the night of April 29, 1998. At 2:30 a.m., Dennis called her new partner Darren in tears, pleading for help as Thompson beat her mercilessly. Darren’s arrival sparked a violent 15-minute struggle, ending with a temporary, uneasy truce.
For a brief moment, tension seemed to subside as the three convened outside Dennis’s apartment, sharing a beer amid false hopes of peace. However, Thompson’s fury simmered beneath a facade of calmness, foreshadowing the horrors yet to unfold in those early morning hours.
Shortly after a deputy’s domestic disturbance response, Thompson vanished but returned at approximately 6:00 a.m., armed and dangerous. He kicked down Dennis’s door with brutal force, shattering security and collapsing any illusion that danger had passed that night in Houston.
Without hesitation, Thompson opened fire on Darren Kaine, hitting him four times with deadly precision. Two bullets tore through Kaine’s chest while a final shot struck his back as he attempted to escape. The violent 𝒶𝓈𝓈𝒶𝓊𝓁𝓉 left Kaine grievously wounded and powerless on the living room floor.
Displaying desperate courage, Kaine tried to protect Dennis by grabbing Thompson’s foot, momentarily restraining his rampage. Thompson shot Kaine at close range in the head, killing him instantly. Meanwhile, Dennis fled, desperately searching for a kitchen knife to defend herself from the attacker.
Thompson 𝒄𝒂𝓊𝓰𝒉𝓉 Dennis in the kitchen, dragging her back with chilling determination. Re-loading his weapon, evidence showed calculated premeditation before he pressed the gun to her cheek and fired at point-blank range, shattering her face and inflicting life-𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓉𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 wounds.
Despite catastrophic injuries, Dennis survived the initial shooting, bleeding profusely but conscious. A neighbor, hearing gunshots, discovered her in a horrific state and immediately summoned emergency help. Thompson remained at the scene briefly, confirming her attacker before fleeing under the rising dawn.
Rather than fleeing from justice, Thompson drove to a confidant and admitted his horrifying actions. He contacted his father, who facilitated Thompson’s surrender to authorities that same morning—an astonishing turn in a story dominated by violence and chaos.
Dennis was airlifted to Houston’s Herman Hospital, clinging to life amid critical injuries and a perilous coma. For a week, family and medical staff struggled with her fragile condition. Ultimately, the gunshot wound and subsequent complications claimed her life on May 6, 1998, leaving her teenage son a grieving orphan.
The aftermath devastated 13-year-old Wade Hlip, Dennis’s son, who had witnessed 𝓪𝓫𝓾𝓼𝓮 and feared the worst. The trauma’s impact echoed through his life, encapsulating the grim legacy Thompson left behind—a tale of brutality that would haunt Houston for decades.
Arrested immediately after the shooting, Thompson faced capital murder charges with the state seeking the death penalty. His time awaiting trial unraveled further when it was revealed he attempted to orchestrate the murder of a key witness, exposing his dangerous willingness to silence those seeking justice.
In 1999, a Harris County jury convicted Thompson of capital murder, sentencing him to death. Yet the saga was far from over; in 2005, Thompson shocked the nation by orchestrating a daring escape from Harris County Jail, walking out disguised as a court employee in broad daylight.
The escape ignited nationwide panic and a relentless manhunt offering a $10,000 reward. Thompson traveled nearly 200 miles, adopting false identities and exploiting public crises to evade capture. His freedom lasted only three days before he was found intoxicated outside a liquor store in Louisiana.
Re-arrested without resistance, Thompson was transferred to death row at the Allen B. Polunsky Unit, where he awaited execution for nearly two decades. The long delay underscored the complexities of the justice system but never diminished the weight of his crimes or the hunger for closure.
On September 11, 2025, Thompson received his execution warrant, with his death date set for January 28, 2026. The day finally arrived, and the 55-year-old was prepared for lethal injection at Texas’s Huntsville Unit, marking the culmination of years of legal battles and public outcry.
Thompson’s final hours were marked by quiet reflection, meetings with attorneys and spiritual advisors, and a regular prison meal. Absent of family visits, the somber routine highlighted the isolation often accompanying death row inmates facing their last moments under state custody.
At approximately 6:00 p.m., Thompson was escorted to the execution chamber. The procedure began under tense circumstances, with witnesses noting slight movements and irregular breathing early in the process, signaling discomfort before unconsciousness overtook him—an unusual but fleeting display during lethal injection.
By 6:15 p.m., Texas authorities officially declared Charles Victor Thompson deceased, closing a grim chapter in the state’s history. His execution answers years of waiting for justice on behalf of Glenda Dennis Hlip, her son, and countless others affected by his violent legacy.
The brutal murder, the chilling escape, and the final demise of Charles Thompson serve as a stark reminder of the grave consequences of unchecked violence. Texas’s ultimate enforcement of its capital sentence punctuates the enduring struggle between justice and chaos in the face of heinous crime.