HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - The Latest on the Texas execution of Juan Castillo (all times local):
6:50 p.m.
A Texas inmate who insisted he wasn’t involved in a San Antonio “lovers’ lane” killing more than 14 years ago has been executed for the slaying.
Juan Edward Castillo received lethal injection Wednesday evening for the fatal shooting and robbery of a 19-year-old man that testimony showed was carried out by Castillo and several friends on a secluded road where the victim was enticed by the promise of drugs and sex.
The execution is the 11th this year in the U.S., and the sixth in Texas.
The 36-year-old Castillo lost appeals earlier this week at the U.S. Supreme Court and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest court. No last-day appeals were filed in the courts to try to block his punishment.
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1 p.m.
Attorneys for a Texas inmate facing imminent execution are asking Gov. Greg Abbott to grant him a 30-day reprieve.
Amanda Marzullo, executive director of Texas Defender Service, a legal organization whose lawyers have been representing death row inmate Juan Castillo, says the additional time is needed to ensure Texas executes a man who was properly convicted.
Marzullo, in a letter to Abbott, raises a number of questions about Castillo’s case that the courts either have refused to consider or have rejected.
The Texas parole board earlier this week refused to recommend Abbott grant clemency for Castillo, who is set to die Wednesday evening.
He was convicted of killing a 19-year-old San Antonio man, Tommy Garcia Jr., during a robbery in 2003.
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11:15 p.m.
A Texas inmate has insisted he wasn’t involved in a San Antonio killing more than 14 years ago that sent him to death row.
Juan Castillo faces lethal injection Wednesday evening for the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old man in a robbery plot.
Castillo would be the 11th convicted killer put to death this year in the U.S. and the sixth in Texas.
His appeals lawyers have contended no physical evidence tied him to the 2003 slaying of Tommy Garcia Jr. and argued in appeals that trial testimony from witnesses who said Castillo talked about committing the crime was false or misleading.
Testimony showed Castillo’s girlfriend offered Garcia drugs and sex if he’d take her in his car to a San Antonio lovers’ lane. Once they were parked, testimony showed Castillo demanded Garcia’s money. Garcia refused and was shot.
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