HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Texas man who admitted he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and fatally shot an 18-year-old woman in 2001 was executed Wednesday evening.
Ramiro Gonzales, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. following a chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the January 2001 killing of Bridget Townsend.
Gonzales was repeatedly apologetic to the victim's relatives in his last statement from the execution chamber.
“I can’t put into words the pain I have caused y’all, the hurt, what I took away that I cannot give back. I hope this apology is enough,” he said.
“I never stopped praying that you would forgive me and that one day I would have this opportunity to apologize. I owe all of you my life and I hope one day you will forgive me,” he added, just before the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began flowing.
As the drug took effect, he took seven breaths, then began sounds like snores. Within less than a minute, all movement had stopped.
Gonzales kidnapped Townsend, who would have turned 41 on Wednesday, from a rural home in Bandera County, northwest of San Antonio. He later took her to his family’s ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted her before killing her. Her body wasn’t found until October 2002, when Gonzales led authorities to her remains in southwest Texas after he had received two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman.
“We have finally witnessed justice be being served,” Townsend's brother, David, said after watching the execution. “This day marks the end of a long and painful journey for our family. For over two decades we have endured unimaginable pain and heartache.”
He said Gonzales' death “provides us a little bit of peace. I do want to say we are not joyous. We are not happy. This is a very, very sad day for everyone all the way around.”
The U.S. Supreme Court declined a defense plea to intervene about 1 and 1/2 hours before the execution's scheduled start time. The high court rejected arguments by Gonzales’ lawyers that he had taken responsibility for what he did and that a prosecution expert witness now says he was wrong in testifying that Gonzales would be a future danger to society, a legal finding needed to impose a death sentence.
“He has earnestly devoted himself to self-improvement, contemplation, and prayer, and has grown into a mature, peaceful, kind, loving, and deeply religious adult. He acknowledges his responsibility for his crimes and has sought to atone for them and to seek redemption through his actions,” Gonzales’ lawyers had written Monday in their unsuccessful request to the Supreme Court for a stay of execution. After re-evaluating Gonzales in 2022, Gripon said his prediction was wrong.
Earlier this month, a group of 11 evangelical leaders from Texas and around the country asked the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to halt the execution and grant clemency. They had said Gonzalez was helping other death row inmates through a faith-based program.
In video submitted as part of his clemency request to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, Gonzales admitted responsibility.
“I just want (Townsend’s mother) to know how sorry I really am. I took everything that was valuable from a mother,” said Gonzales, who was 18 years old at the time. “So, every day it’s a continual task to do everything that I can to feel that responsibility for the life that I took.”
On Monday, the parole board voted 7-0 against commuting Gonzales’ death sentence to a lesser penalty. Members also rejected granting him a six-month reprieve.
Prosecutors described Gonzales as a sexual predator who told police he ignored Townsend’s pleas to spare her life. They argued that jurors reached the right decision on a death sentence because he had a long criminal history and showed no remorse.
“The State’s punishment case was overwhelming,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office said. “Even if Dr. Gripon’s testimony were wiped from the punishment slate, it would not have mattered.”
Gonzales’ execution was the second this year in Texas and the eighth in the U.S. On Thursday, Oklahoma is scheduled to execute Richard Rojem for the 1984 abduction, rape and killing of a 7-year-old girl.
Lozano reported from Houston.
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This image provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Texas death row inmate Ramiro Gonzales. The Texas man convicted of fatally shooting of an 18-year-old Southwest Texas woman whose remains weren’t found until two years after she vanished is facing execution. Gonzales is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brett Wisely hit a two-run homer with none out in the ninth inning after Jason Heyward tied it in the top half on a sacrifice fly, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3 on Friday night.
Camilo Doval (3-1) wound up with the victory after blowing just his third save opportunity all season.
Wisely delivered against the mighty Dodgers in front of a sellout crowd for fireworks night.
“He’s been playing short great, he’s been getting big hits for us,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s led off, hitting down in the lineup. That's one in his career that he’s never going to forget, that big a homer against these guys.”
He’s been playing short great, he’s been getting big hits for us. He’s led off, hitting down in the lineup. That;’s one in his career that he’s never going to forget, that big a homer against these guys.
Blake Treinen (2-2) entered for the ninth and immediately walked Luis Matos, who was replaced by pinch-runner Tyler Fitzgerald.
Matt Chapman had put the Giants ahead with a two-run homer in the sixth inning shortly after the Giants announced the death of Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda and paused for a moment of silence.
Logan Webb struck out six over seven innings, allowing two runs on five hits. Tyler Rogers pitched the eighth before Doval entered and gave up a leadoff triple to Andy Pages ahead of Heyward's sacrifice fly.
Gavin Lux broke up a scoreless tie with an RBI double in the fifth off Webb and Will Smith singled in a run later that inning, but the Dodgers had their four-game winning streak snapped.
Matos homered in the bottom half of the fifth for the Giants, who just took three of four from the Cubs.
Michael Conforto hit a two-out triple in the second for San Francisco but Miguel Rojas then stopped a hard line drive by Matos to save a run.
The Dodgers have won 11 of 14 against the Giants dating to September and five of seven this season.
Los Angeles hasn't dropped a road series in San Francisco since going 2-8 in 2016 and is 36-24 since then at Oracle Park.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: 3B Max Muncy, nursing an oblique strain, is with the team and took swings off a tee and fielded groundballs. The next step will be taking live batting practice, then a simulated game before Muncy begins a rehab assignment, according to manager Dave Roberts. ... LHP Clayton Kershaw will resume playing catch again next week after the club announced Monday he had been shut down because of lingering soreness as he recovers from surgery in his pitching shoulder.
Giants: LHP Blake Snell struck out six and allowed three runs on four hits over three innings for Triple-A Sacramento at Las Vegas as the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner works back from a strained left groin. ... RHP Alex Cobb (shoulder) threw a bullpen session Friday and is set to pitch in a rehab outing at Class-A San Jose on Sunday. ... LHP Kyle Harrison tested his sprained right ankle with a bullpen session as well.
ROSTER MOVES
INF/OF LaMonte Wade Jr. returned from the injured list and started at first base, going 1 for 4 with two strikeouts, and INF/OF Tyler Fitzgerald was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento as INFs Thairo Estrada (sprained left wrist) and Wilmer Flores (tendonitis in his right knee) were placed on the 10-day IL.
UP NEXT
RHP Tyler Glasnow (8-5, 2.88 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Dodgers on Saturday, while the Giants hadn't named a starter.
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Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani runs to first on his single against the San Francisco Giants during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
San Francisco Giants shortstop Nick Ahmed, right, catches a throw from second baseman Brett Wisely to force out Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, left, during the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. Freddie Freeman reached first on the play. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani walks through the dugout during the eighth inning of the team's baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
San Francisco Giants pitcher Camilo Doval throws to a Los Angeles Dodgers batter during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Jason Heyward hits a sacrifice fly against the San Francisco Giants during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani walks through the dugout during the eighth inning of the team's baseball game against the San Francisco Giants, Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
Los Angeles Dodgers' Andy Pages, right, celebrates with Miguel Rojas after scoring against the San Francisco Giants on Jason Heyward's sacrifice fly during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
San Francisco Giants' Brett Wisely celebrates his game-winning, two-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
San Francisco Giants' Brett Wisely, right, celebrates after hitting a game-winning, two-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
San Francisco Giants' Brett Wisely (0) is congratulated after hitting a game-wining, two-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
San Francisco Giants' Brett Wisely celebrates after hitting a game-winning, two-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
San Francisco Giants' Brett Wisely (0) celebrates with Jorge Soler after hitting a game-wining, two-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 28, 2024, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)
