Washington: An American man was executed in Texas for the murder of a woman in 2001.
In 2006, Ramiro Gonzalez and Bridget Townsend were convicted of the rape and murder of Bridget Townsend, both 18, and sentenced to death.
Gonzalez, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. local time (23:50 GMT). He was executed by lethal injection.
“To the Townsend family, I’m sorry I can’t speak, I can’t express the pain I’m suffering, the devastation I’m suffering, the things I can’t take back,” Gonzalez said. final statement.
In January 2001, Gonzalez was kidnapped, raped and shot by Townsend, the daughter of a drug dealer.
Gonzalez, who was jailed in a separate rape case, went unsolved for 18 months until he pleaded guilty. He also told the mayor where Townsend’s body was found.
Gonzalez’s attorney appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the death sentence, but was denied Wednesday.
Gonzalez’s execution is the second in Texas this year and the eighth in the US, and does not count against the sentence revoked last February in Idaho for failing to meet the statutory deadline.
The United States will execute 24 people in 2023.
23 of the 50 US states have abolished the death penalty. Six other states – Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee – maintain a moratorium on the death penalty.
