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A Texas man was executed Wednesday for the homicide of an 18-year-old lady who was raped, fatally shot and dumped in a subject. He used his dying phrases to apologize to the younger lady’s household.
Ramiro Gonzales, 41, was executed by deadly injection at 6:50 p.m. CT, in response to the Texas Division of Felony Justice. He turned the second inmate put to loss of life within the state this 12 months and the eighth in the nation.
Gonzales was convicted of the rape and homicide of 18-year-old Bridget Townsend, who was simply getting her begin in life, working full-time at a resort and eagerly ready to listen to again a few nursing college software.
“I can’t put into phrases the ache I’ve brought on y’all, the harm, what I took away that I can not give again,” Gonzales mentioned simply earlier than his last breaths, in response to a transcript supplied by the Texas Division of Felony Justice
Bridget’s mom, Patricia Townsend, told USA TODAY that she could be among the many witnesses to the execution and that it will be a “joyful event” for her household: “He does not deserve mercy.”
This is what to know in regards to the execution, the case and the sufferer.
Ramiro Gonzales apologizes to household, tells warden ‘I am prepared’
The final phrases Ramiro Gonzales ever spoke had been directed to the Townsend household, apologizing for the ache he brought on them, in response to a transcript supplied by the Texas Division of Felony Justice.
Gonzales instructed the Townsends that he used the time he was given on Earth working to take duty for his actions in an try to “give all of it again” and that he beloved the Townsends.
“I by no means stopped praying for all of you. I by no means stopped praying that you’d forgive me and that sooner or later I might have this chance to apologize. I owe all of you my life and I hope sooner or later you’ll forgive me,” Gonzales mentioned. “To all your loved ones, I’m sorry.”
He additionally thanked his household and associates for the help they’ve given him through the years.
He ended his final phrases with: “God bless you all. Warden, I’m prepared.”
The person put to loss of life was a ‘totally different individual’
Texas executed Gonzales for against the law he dedicated as an 18-year-old, Gonzales’ legal professionals instructed USA TODAY after his loss of life.
“The person put to loss of life for these acts was a unique individual,” they mentioned. Gonzales “floundered” as an abused and uncared for baby and teenager, by no means understanding the “instruments, help, or steering” that many take without any consideration. He made some “poor selections” and “sought escape via medication” on account of these circumstance, they mentioned.
“And he brought on irrevocable harms. He took the lifetime of Bridget Townsend, and he attacked” one other lady,” they mentioned. “We grieve for these girls and their households. So did he.”
“The Ramiro” who left the world was a “a deeply non secular, beneficiant, affected person, and intentional individual, stuffed with regret, somebody whose driving power was love.”
“Ramiro knew he took one thing from this world he may by no means give again. He lived with that disgrace every single day, and it formed the individual he labored so exhausting to develop into,” in response to the assertion. “If this nation’s authorized system was meant to encourage rehabilitation, he could be an exemplar. Ramiro grew. Ramiro modified. Might all of us try to do the identical.”
Bridget Townsend murdered, stays deserted
Bridget Townsend was spending the evening at her boyfriend Joe Leal’s home the evening Ramiro Gonzales got here knocking. Leal dealt medication and Gonzales went to his home to steal cocaine, discovering Bridget there alone.
After Gonzales got here in and stole some money, Bridget began to name Leal. That is when Gonzales overpowered her, tied her up and drove her to his grandfather’s ranch, the place he raped and shot her earlier than dumping her physique in a subject, in response to court docket data.
When Leal arrived house later that evening, Bridget’s truck, purse and keys had been their common spots however he could not discover her wherever and referred to as police.
For practically two years, nobody however Gonzales knew what occurred to Bridget. Someday whereas he was serving a life sentence for the rape and kidnapping of one other lady, Gonzales determined to admit to killing Bridget, main authorities to her stays in a subject in Bandera, a small city 40 miles northwest of San Antonio.
Bridget’s mother rejects apology, excuses
Patricia Townsend instructed USA TODAY that Gonzales’ childhood “shouldn’t have something to do with it.”
“I do know lots of people that had a tough childhood,” she mentioned on Saturday, 4 days forward of the execution. “He made his selection.”
Gonzales has reached out to Bridget’s household through the years to convey his “profound regret,” apologies that her household has rejected.
“She was a ravishing one who beloved life and beloved folks,” Townsend mentioned. “She didn’t deserve what she acquired.”
She mentioned she discovered some consolation when she realized that Gonzales was set to depart the world the identical day Bridget got here into it.
“Once they instructed me June 26, I began crying, crying and crying,” she mentioned. “That’s her birthday.”
This text initially appeared on USA TODAY: Ramiro Gonzales executed on birthday of Texas teen he raped and killed
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