Thread: Mexican on death row for killing 3 El Paso teens dies

Mexican national on death row for killing 3 El Paso teens dies


by Erika Esquivel
Wednesday, July 24th 2019



Ignacio Gomez (Source: Texas Department of Criminal Justice)

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — A Mexican national who was on a Texas death row for killing three El Paso teens has died in prison, according to prison officials.

Officials said 49-year-old Ignacio Gomez was found unresponsive in his cell on the Polunsky Unit on Sunday morning. Lifesaving measures were performed and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The preliminary report indicated he died from cardiac arrest but officials said an autopsy will be conducted by the independent Office of Inspector General.

Gomez was in prison for 21 years.

The Houston Chronicle reports that’s Gomez wrapped a loaded revolver in a white T-shirt and cruised through his family’s neighborhood, hoping to hunt down the person who vandalized his mother’s house and badly scared her in 1996.

Gomez ran into his brother and brother-in-law and agreed to drive them to the store. On the way, they passed three teens. When one of his brothers identified them as the trio who vandalized their mother’s home, Gomez pulled over and a brawl began. The fight quickly escalated when the shooter fired the gun and shot the teens.

Gomez and his brother then buried the bodies in a desert area.

When Gomez was arrested, he confessed to police.

He was sentenced to death row in 1996.

His case got attention when he became one of a handful of Mexican nationals to challenge his conviction based on claims the U.S. flouted international treaties in handling the case.

His attorney said Gomez was never told about his right to inform the Mexican consulate of his arrest and request legal assistance from his country, a move that violates the Vienna Conventions on consular relations.

The courts decided that the Vienna Convention is only feasible between countries and not by American courts in individual criminal cases.

When he died Sunday, Gomez did not have an execution date.

https://kfoxtv.com/news/local/mexica...aso-teens-dies

The federal government will resume capital punishment for the first time since 2003