HOUSTON: A 41-year-old man was executed Wednesday in the US state of Texas for the brutal murder of a young mother more than 20 years ago, the 13th execution in the country this year.
Moises Sandoval Mendoza was put to death at the state penitentiary in the city of Huntsville, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement.
Mendoza was found guilty of killing 20-year-old Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson in March 2004. According to court documents, he sexually assaulted her, killed her, then carried her body to a ditch and set it on fire. The victim’s remains were discovered several days later.
Tolleson, the mother of a five-month-old child, had known her killer since high school, according to local media.
Mendoza confessed to the murder, but had sought to have the death penalty commuted to life imprisonment. He lost the appeals.
In a final statement shared by Texas officials, Mendoza apologized to Tolleson’s loved ones “for having robbed you of Rachelle’s life.”
“To Avery… I robbed you of a mother. I’m sorry for that,“ Mendoza said. “I know nothing that I could ever say or do would ever make up for that.”
Earlier Wednesday, the US Supreme Court also rejected all of Mendoza’s appeals to block his execution by lethal injection from proceeding.
Including Mendoza’s, the United States has carried out 13 executions since the beginning of this year: nine by lethal injection; two by firing squad; and two using nitrogen gas, which has been denounced by the United Nations and experts as cruel and inhumane.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.
US President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”
Attorney General Paxton had supported the execution, reiterating his position in a statement issued after Mendoza was put to death.
“I will always do everything in my power to defend the law and hold criminals accountable,“ he said.
