Nelson had several run-ins with Oklahoma's juvenile authorities at the age of six, committing property crimes, burglaries, thefts, and aggravated assault.

Despite attempts by officials to intervene through counseling and probation, he was incarcerated in a high-risk juvenile detention center at a young age due to his continued involvement in felonies.

Originally sentenced to nine months at the Texas Youth Commission (TYC), Nelson spent over three and a half years there due to continued infractions, including four high-level disciplinary hearings.

Two years later, in November 2007, Nelson stole a laptop from a Walmart by hiding it in his pants while pretending to be a store associate.

Three days later, his girlfriend filed a non-prosecution affidavit to drop the charges, but the DA denied it because of his extensive record.

As for Elliott, she was severely beaten, causing her to suffer internal bleeding in her brain and traumatic injuries to her face, head, arms, legs, and back.

[4][13] Meanwhile, unable to reach her husband by phone, Clint Dobson's wife contacted Jake Turner, the church's part-time music minister.

Turner agreed to go to the church and called Judy Elliott's husband, John, who quickly drove to the location.

[4][14] An autopsy was later conducted by Dr. Nizam Peerwani, a medical examiner for Tarrant County, and results showed that Dobson's injuries were likely caused by a violent struggle, during which he tried to protect himself from blows possibly delivered by the butt of a firearm.

Nelson, who was supposed to report to his probation officer on the date of the murder but failed to do so, was apprehended by police after a warrant of arrest was issued in his case.

[19] After his indictment, Steven Nelson was remanded in a Tarrant County jail while awaiting trial for the murder of Clint Dobson.

He committed several serious infractions, such as breaking a telephone in the visitation booth, damaging prison property, and threatening an officer.

He also got into physical altercations with corrections officers regularly (including one such incident where three guards had to restrain Nelson to stop him).

Nelson reportedly told Holden to hang himself in a fake suicide attempt to earn himself a transfer to another part of the prison.

Nelson explained the presence of the victim's DNA on his shoe or the discovery of his broken belt pieces by stating he crawled under a table to grab a laptop bag at the murder site.

A sentencing trial commenced thereafter to decide whether Nelson should face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

They brought forward Nelson's troubled childhood and learning difficulties, among other mitigating factors, in favor of life imprisonment for their client.

[38] Even after the end of his trial, Nelson continued to maintain his innocence in an interview with the Associated Press, and acknowledged he had anger problems but denied he was a murderer.

[49] A December 2024 report revealed that Nelson was one of the four condemned inmates from Texas to have their execution dates scheduled between February and April 2025.

However, some others, including members of Clint Dobson's church, supported the execution of Nelson, and First Baptist Arlington pastor Dennis Wiles, who was affiliated to the same church as Dobson, had previously affirmed his support to execute Nelson in a 2012 statement, "As the Bible teaches us, God has placed the civil authority in our midst so that innocent people can live in freedom without fear and so that guilty offenders can be appropriately punished.

[54] A final appeal was lodged to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it was ultimately rejected on the afternoon of February 5, 2025, hours before the tentative timing of Nelson's execution.

A believer in social justice, he led a diverse congregation and worked to make sure that everyone felt comfortable and welcome at NorthPointe.

However, a majority of the Christians remained in favour of the death penalty, with the support coming from mostly the evangelicals and mainline Protestants, including Southern Baptists.

[59][60] In response to the backlash against Dobson's church for not speaking up against Nelson's case, First Baptist Arlington Senior Pastor Dennis Wiles released a statement, saying that he did not wish to comment on his opinion on the death penalty but rather to focus on his responsibility to take care of the families affected by the case, and abstain from publicly joining in the religious debate surrounding the death penalty.

Judy Elliott, who survived the murder, died in 2024, and her son reportedly attended the execution on behalf of his late mother.

The Elliott family stated they already forgiven Nelson despite stopping short of commenting whether they support or oppose his death sentence.