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Pablo Vasquez Texas Execution

Pablo Vasquez was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of a twelve year old boy. Pablo Vasquez would meet the victim, David Cardenas, at a party. After the party Pablo Vasquez and his cousin fifteen year old ndres Rafael “Andy” Chapa would follow the victim and strike him in the head with an iron bar. The twelve year old boy would be dragged across a four lane highway were he was brutalized, robbed, murdered and scalped. Pablo Vasquez would later tell the police that the devil told him to do it. Pablo Vasquez would be convicted and sentenced to death. Vasquez would be executed by lethal injection on April 6, 2016

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Twelve-year-old David Cardenas was still alive when his killer drank the blood from his wounds, according to a videotaped confession Pablo Lucio Vasquez later gave police. After Cardenas’ April 1998 murder, his body was mutilated and buried in a shallow grave in Donna, Texas.

Vasquez, who admitted slitting Cardenas’ throat and beating him to death before stealing a ring and chain from the body, was executed Wednesday for the crime. He was 38.

“I started hearing voices in my head, and I told my cousin that somebody was telling me to kill him,” Vasquez said in his confession.

After his final appeals were denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon, Vasquez was strapped to a gurney in the Huntsville Unit shortly after 6 p.m. He was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital and pronounced dead at 6:35 p.m.

In his final statement, he thanked his family and apologized to Cardenas’ family.

“This is the only way that I can be forgiven,” he said from the execution chamber. “You got your justice right here.”

In his last appeal, Vasquez claimed he wasn’t given a fair trial because the court “repeatedly excused prospective jurors with sympathies against the death penalty but still qualified to serve,” according to the petition originally filed with the state. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had already rejected his claim.

In previous unsuccessful appeals, Vasquez’s attorneys argued that the murder shouldn’t have been considered a capital crime because Vasquez didn’t kill Cardenas intending to rob him, according to court documents. They have also claimed that his trial counsel was ineffective for not using an insanity defense.

Sometime in the early morning of April 18, 1998, Cardenas, Vasquez, then 20, and Vasquez’s cousin, 15-year-old Andres Chapa, left a party together. Vasquez had been drinking, smoking marijuana and snorting cocaine, according to his confession

When they got to the house where Chapa’s mother was staying, Vasquez said he “blacked out” and started hearing voices telling him to kill Cardenas. He struck the boy several times in the back of the head with a pipe.

Pablo Vasquez then slit Cardenas’ throat while Chapa began to prepare a grave, Vasquez said.

“He was still saying something, and I picked him up in the air,” Vasquez said in his confession. “The blood was dripping and got it all over my face. So, I don’t know, I mean something just told me drink.”

Vasquez put Cardenas back down, and Chapa hit the boy in the face with a shovel five or six times, according to Vasqeuz’s statement.

The two dug a small hole, placed Cardenas in it, and covered him with grass and pieces of wood.

When police found Cardenas’ body on April 22, he was scalped and missing a foot, arm and part of his other arm. Skin had been cut from his back, court documents stated.

Pablo Vasquez confessed to the murder after his arrest and was indicted on capital murder charges for the boy’s death and the theft of his jewelry. He was convicted and sentenced to death in March 1999 in Hidalgo County, just over 17 years ago.

Chapa was also convicted but received a 35-year-sentence because he was a minor. He first became eligible for parole last year but was denied in December. His next shot at parole is in 2020, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/04/06/killer-faces-execution-boys-death/

Adam Ward Texas Execution

Adam Ward was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of a code enforcement officer. According to court documents Adam Ward would fatally shoot code enforcement officer Michael Walker as he was taking photos of garbage surrounding Ward residence. Adam Ward would be executed by lethal injection on March 22, 2016

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The U.S. Supreme Court was considering whether a Texas man who killed a city worker in 2005 should be spared from a lethal injection, as his lawyers argue that a ban on executing mentally impaired prisoners should be extended to him.

Adam Ward’s attorneys say he’s delusional and should not be put to death because of his mental illness. His execution is set for Tuesday evening and would be the fifth this year in Texas and ninth nationally.

Ward, 33, insists he was defending himself when he killed code enforcement officer Michael Walker, who was taking photos of junk piled outside the Ward family home in Commerce, about 65 miles northeast of Dallas.

“Only time any shots were fired on my behalf was when I was matching force with force,” Ward told The Associated Press last month from a visiting cage outside death row. “I wish it never happened but it did, and I have to live with what it is.”

Evidence showed the 44-year-old Walker had a camera and cellphone but no weapon.

In a videotaped statement to police following his arrest, Ward said he believed Commerce officials long conspired against him and his father, described in court filings as a hoarder who had been in conflict with the city for years. Evidence showed the Ward family had been cited repeatedly for violating housing and zoning codes.

In their appeal to the high court, Ward’s attorneys renewed arguments that he is mentally ill and contended his execution would be unconstitutional because of evolving sentiment against executing the mentally ill.

The justices have ruled that mentally impaired people, generally those with an IQ below 70, may not be executed. However, the court has said mentally ill prisoners may be executed if they understand they are about to be put to death and why they face the punishment.

State attorneys, who said evidence showed Ward’s IQ as high as 123, said the late appeal did not raise a new issue, meaning it was improper and without merit. They also disputed claims of changing attitudes about executing the mentally ill.

Evidence of Ward’s delusions, paranoia and bipolar disorder was presented at his 2007 trial and resurfaced in earlier unsuccessful appeals. The Supreme Court last October refused to review Ward’s case.

“It’s frustrating, tormenting, it’s depressing,” Dick Walker, the father of the man killed, said Monday. “I believe in appeals. I really do. … It shouldn’t drag on for almost 11 years.”

Witnesses said Michael Walker was taking photos of the Ward property on June 13, 2005, when he and Ward got into an argument.

Walker told Ward he was calling for assistance. Ward thought that meant police were on their way to kill him, Ward’s lead trial attorney, Dennis Davis, said last week.

“Mr. Walker walked into a hornet’s nest and didn’t know it,” Davis said.

Walker made the call and waited near the back of his truck. Ward went inside the house, emerged with a .45-caliber pistol and started firing. Walker was shot nine times.

“I think the only thing he was there for was harassment,” Ward said from prison.

Dick Walker, an emergency medical technician when the shooting happened, was the first medic to arrive at the Ward property. He said he “had to intubate my own son on scene to save his life.”

He said he’s spent years “getting rid of my anger” and in the last year prayed to forgive Ward for the slaying. Still, he believes the punishment is justified.

“I do want him to get the sentence he was given by the jury, and he definitely deserves it,” said Dick Walker, who planned to witness Ward’s execution.

https://www.al.com/news/2016/03/texas_to_execute_adam_ward_unl.html

Coy Wesbrook Texas Execution

Coy Wesbrook was executed by the State of Texas for the murders of five people. According to court documents Coy Wesbrook would murder his ex wife and her boyfriend before murdering three more men. Coy Wesbrook would be sentenced to death and would be executed by lethal injection on March 10, 2016

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A man convicted of killing five people including his ex-wife in a 1997 shooting rampage near Houston was put to death Wednesday.

Coy Wesbrook’s lethal injection was the eighth this year nationally and fourth in Texas, which carries out capital punishment more than any state. Two Georgia inmates have been executed so far in 2016, plus one each in Alabama and Florida.

Before being executed, the 58-year-old Coy Wesbrook apologized profusely to some of his victims’ relatives who witnessed the punishment.

“I want to say that I’m sorry for the pain that I have caused you people,” he said. “I’m sorry I can’t bring everybody back. I wish things could have been a lot different.”

Wesbrook said he loved his daughter and all his supporters. “I pray that the Lord take care of me and all of you,” he said.

He concluded by telling relatives of his victims that he “can understand your outrage and why you are mad at me. God be with all of us.”

As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital took effect, he took two deep breaths, then began snoring. A few seconds later, all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead at 8:04 p.m. CST.

The execution was delayed about 90 minutes. Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said prison officials had anticipated an additional appeal would be filed by a death penalty opponent whose appeal hours earlier was rejected by the Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court.

That appeal sought another review of claims that Wesbrook was mentally impaired and ineligible for the death penalty under U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we waited, and when nothing was filed, we went forward (with the execution),” Clark said.

Coy Wesbrook killed his ex-wife, Gloria Jean Coons, 32; her roommate, Diana Ruth Money, 43; and three men: Antonio Cruz, 35, Anthony Ray Rogers, 41, and Kelly Hazlip, 28.

Wesbrook, a former security guard and delivery driver, married Coons in 1995. They divorced the following year but continued seeing each other. They had lunch Nov. 12, 1997, and talked about reconciling. That was on his mind when he showed up that night at her apartment in Channelview, just east of Houston. Instead, he found people partying.

He testified at his 1998 trial that Coons humiliated him by having sex with two of the men at the party while he was there. He said when he tried to leave, Cruz grabbed the keys to his truck and joined others in taunting him. He said he “lost it,” walked out, grabbed a rifle he kept in the truck and returned, shooting each person once. Coons was the final victim.

Court records show the five shots were fired within 40 seconds. Each victim was shot at close range.

Neighbors who heard the gunfire and called police saw Wesbrook emerge from the apartment, place the rifle inside his truck and stand calmly by the tailgate of the pickup to wait for sheriff’s deputies to arrive.

“If I could change things and turn back time and bring all these people back and I could be in my right mind and not under the influence of any alcohol, none of this would have taken place,” Wesbrook said recently from death row.

At least 10 other Texas inmates are scheduled to be executed in the coming months, including two later this month

https://www.al.com/news/2016/03/texas_executes_coy_wesbrook_in.html

Gustavo Garcia Texas Execution

Gustavo Garcia was sentenced to death by the State of Texas for a murder committed during a robbery. According to court documents Gustavo Garcia would attempt to rob a store and when the victim, Craig Turski attempted to flee he was shot and killed. Gustavo Garcia who was eighteen years old when he committed the murder was sentenced to death and would be executed by lethal injection on February 16, 2016

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After 24 years on Texas death row, a re-sentencing trial and an unsuccessful escape attempt, Gustavo Julian Garcia was executed Tuesday night. He was 43.

Garcia was sentenced to death in 1992 after confessing to the murders of two clerks during separate robberies, according to court documents. On Tuesday, his only personal witness was his spiritual advisor. Family members of one of the victims were also present.

At 6:10 p.m., witnesses shuffled from the clear, warm night into the death house, where Garcia was already strapped to a gurney. He was asked if he had any last words.

“Yes, sir,” he replied. “To my family, to my mom, I love you. God bless you, stay strong.”

A lethal dose of pentobarbital began streaming into the IV already inserted into his tattooed arm. Garcia, in prison whites and black-rimmed glasses, looked straight at the ceiling with a calm expression on his face. A minute later, he yawned and his eyelids drooped. At 6:26 p.m., he was pronounced dead.

It was the third execution in Texas this year, and the sixth in the United States.

In December 1990, Garcia, 18 at the time, and 15-year-old Christopher Vargas entered a liquor store with a sawed-off shotgun, according to court documents. They stole money and beer, and Garcia shot the clerk, Craig Turski, in the stomach and head.

The two weren’t arrested until a month later, when they were caught at a Texaco where another clerk, 18-year-old Gregory Martin, had been shot and killed. Garcia confessed to the murders, and he was sentenced to death for Turski’s death in January 1992, according to court documents. He was never tried in Martin’s case.

Martin’s sister, brother-in-law and friend attended Garcia’s execution. No one related to Turski was there. Garcia’s spiritual advisor, Father Clifton Labbe, stood at the front of the viewing area and stared at Garcia’s face

Garcia’s long stretch on death row wasn’t uneventful. More than six years into his sentence, on Thanksgiving night 1998, Garcia took part in an escape attempt that ended with the death of another death row inmate, Martin Gurule, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The inmates crept under a fence, climbed a roof and sprinted across the prison yard, the Morning News reported. Garcia and five other inmates surrendered on the lawn after guards began shooting at them, but Gurule managed to get over the outer fence. He was found dead a week later, apparently drowned in a nearby creek.

About two years later, then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn discovered that psychologist Walter Quijano, who testified at Garcia’s original sentencing trial, had claimed in testimony that Hispanics were more likely to pose a future danger to society, according to court documents. Quijano said he came to that belief because Hispanics were overrepresented in the prison population.

Garcia and several other inmates whose death sentences had been influenced by Quijano’s improper testimony were granted new sentencing trials, but Garcia was again sentenced to death in 2001, according to the attorney general’s office.

In August, a Collin County judge set his execution date. His latest appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was denied Feb. 9, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied his request for a stay and new hearing the next day.

On his final day, Garcia visited with family and friends, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

“He was complacent,” TDCJ spokesman Robert Hurst said.

Texas executed 13 men last year, according to TDCJ. Nine more inmates have executions scheduled through July.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/02/16/execution-set-man-involved-death-row-escape/

James Freeman Texas Execution

James Freeman was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of a game warden. According to court documents James Freeman was being chased by Texas Game Warden Justin Hurst, When the chase ended James Freeman would open fire striking and killing Justin Hurst. James Freeman would be sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on January 27 2016

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A man convicted in the 2007 shooting death of a Texas game warden in Wharton County was executed Wednesday evening.

James Garrett Freeman, 35, shot and killed Justin Hurst, a game warden with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, following a 90-minute chase on country roads in the early morning of March 17, 2007, according to court documents. It was Hurst’s 34th birthday.

Freeman was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital and died at 6:30 p.m., according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He declined to give a final statement.

It was the second execution in Texas this year and the fourth in the United States. Eight more executions are scheduled in the state through July. Texas executed 13 people last year.

Freeman was first approached by law enforcement after he shot and killed a possum from the side of the road, according to court documents. Another game warden patrolling the area heard the shot, and when he activated his emergency lights, Freeman sped away.

Law enforcement from multiple agencies took part in the high-speed chase before Freeman ran over a set of spikes that officers had set up near a cemetery. Dashboard camera video shows he exited the car shooting at officers with a handgun, returned to his car while officers shot back, then came back out firing an assault rifle.

Hurst came out from cover to fire at Freeman and was shot and killed. Freeman was also hit by several bullets, including one that penetrated his leg, Wharton County District Attorney Ross Kurtz said.

“Justin was very loved and respected, as is his family who remains in Wharton,” Kurtz said. “It was a great loss.”

Freeman was the first person to be executed from Wharton County since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, according to TDCJ. There have been other capital murder cases in the county since Freeman’s case in 2008, but none have sought the death penalty, Kurtz said. The county has a population of about 41,000.

Freeman’s lawyers said the unique thing about this case was Freeman’s lack of a violent criminal history. He was on probation for a DWI at the time of the shooting, court documents said, but had never faced violent charges. During appeals, Freeman argued his good behavior in jail and lack of violent history indicated he would not be a future danger to society, an element that was necessary to sentence someone to death.

“The most difficult thing for people to grapple with on all sides of this case is the lack of criminal history in this fellow’s background and the extraordinary violence of this event,” said Patrick McCann, Freeman’s lawyer for his direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. “It’s so hard for people to look at the video of this encounter and not think that this was done by someone with a violent, vicious history.”

In Freeman’s last appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review his case on January 11. On Monday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted not to recommend a commuted sentence, a common occurrence immediately before a scheduled execution.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/01/27/texas-game-warden-killer-set-execution/