Southwest
Texas executes Ramiro Gonzales for 2001 murder, rape of 18-year-old woman
Texas death row inmate Ramiro Gonzales was executed by lethal injection Wednesday, despite numerous appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court, for the 2001 murder and rape of a teenage woman.
Gonzales was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. following a chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. His execution comes after he admitted to fatally shooting 18-year-old Bridget Townsend, a southwest Texas woman whose remains were found nearly two years after she vanished in 2001.
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Ramiro Gonzales, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. CDT following a chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the January 2001 killing of Bridget Townsend. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
In a statement released by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Gonzales repeatedly apologized to the victim’s family 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.
The U.S flag and the Texas State flag fly over the Texas State Capitol (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
Townsend, who would have turned 41 this year, was kidnapped from her home in January 2001 and sexually assaulted by Gonzales before he murdered 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.
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“We have finally witnessed justice 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.”
David 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.”
FILE – The execution chamber at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution is shown as Security Institution Warden Randy Blades look on in Boise, Idaho on Oct. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessie L. Bonner, File)
Gonzales’ attorneys, Thea Posel and Raoul Schonemann, previously made requests asking the board to change his death sentence to a lesser penalty.
“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 wrote in a request to the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday.
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.
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.
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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) is pushing to force President Biden out of office via the 25th Amendment.
The U.S. lawmaker from Texas introduced legislation this week that would urge Vice President Kamala Harris to bring together executives of the executive cabinet and jointly declare Biden unfit to continue as president.
Roy introduced the resolution on Friday “calling on Vice President Kamala D. Harris to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Joseph R. Biden incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as Acting President.”
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President Joe Biden stands at his podium during the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections between himself and former president Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia. (Kevin D. Liles for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The resolution claims that Biden “has repeatedly and publicly demonstrated his inability to discharge the powers and duties of the Presidency, including, among others, the powers and duties of the Commander-in-Chief.”
Section 4 of the 25th Amendment authorizes the vice president and a majority of the executive cabinet to make the decision whether the president is fit to continue in office or not.
Biden has faced severe backlash following a disastrous debate performance on Thursday in which the president was seen visibly confused, mouth agape, and frequently unable to complete sentences.
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President of the United States Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump participate in the first Presidential Debate at CNN Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Biden appeared tired and unfocused at times during his 90-minute face-off with Trump. At one point, Trump fired back, “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said either.”
Some Democrats have floated the idea of pulling Biden out of the Democratic primary at the last second, despite the fact he’s been the overwhelming winner of every state.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at a post-debate campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
Such a radical move would certainly lead to legal battles, voter confusion, and a last-minute scramble for a new candidate to connect with the American people.
Republicans have seized the moment as vindication after years of questioning the president’s mental acuity but being denied by the mainstream media and political insiders.
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A family in the Antelope Valley whose home erupted in flames over the weekend said they believe the cause of the devastating blaze was unsanctioned fireworks being set off in the area.
Crews with the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the June 30 fire on West Avenue 012 in Palmdale and said firefighters found the house fully engulfed in flames, as well as a one-acre brush fire.
Now, Irma Campos and her family are sleeping outside the charred remains of their home in an RV lent to them by a neighbor.
“It’s going to take us a year to come back from this,” she told KTLA’s Angeli Kakade.
Campos said that unsanctioned fireworks in Palmdale have been a problem for years, saying that on Friday and Saturday, explosions were coming from everywhere. It wasn’t until Sunday though, that she says a firework landed in her backyard and caused a massive fire.
“We opened up the curtain and the fire was just coming right at us,” she explained.
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Image of the smoke and flames as the blaze engulfed the Palmdale home on June 30, 2024. (Citizen) -
Charred remains of Palmdale home that allegedly caught on fire from fireworks on June 30, 2024. (KTLA) -
Charred remains of Palmdale home that allegedly caught on fire from fireworks on June 30, 2024. (KTLA) -
Charred remains of Palmdale home that allegedly caught on fire from fireworks on June 30, 2024. (KTLA) -
Charred remains of Palmdale home that allegedly caught on fire from fireworks on June 30, 2024. (KTLA) -
Fireworks labeled “safe and sane” are the only legal fireworks for sale in Palmdale. (KTLA) -
An RV the Campos family is sleeping in outside the charred remains of their property that burned down on June 30, 2024. (KTLA)
Footage of the fire posted to the Citizen App shows the dark, billowing smoke as flames overtook her home. Campos said her first thought was to run.
“Mija, let’s run,” she said at the moment. “We started running and my other daughter was here, and we grabbed each other and started running with no shoes. We just ran.”
Just last week, Palmdale announced a ban on the sale of illegal fireworks, warning residents that only fireworks labeled “safe and sane” are allowed.
“It’s a lot of desert landscape and those fireworks traveling, exploding and their embers coming down start fires, catch houses on fire, brush on fire,” Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Erynn Velazquez told KTLA.
Setting off illegal fireworks can come with fines of more than $17,000 and criminal charges, and while Deputy Velazquez said they’re adding additional patrol for the Fourth of July holiday, the damage has already been done to the Campos’ home.
“Why did they do it? That’s my biggest thing, why?” Campos said. “I wanted the people who did do it to see what happens. They might see it on TV. This is what you did to me. I no longer have a house.”
Fire officials have yet to confirm that fireworks caused the destructive fire at her home. The case remains under investigation.
In the meantime, a GoFundMe has been organized to help the Campos family recover from the loss of their home.
A Texas man was arrested after police say he attacked another man with a machete-type knife during a traffic quarrel.
Michael Martin Ochwat, 66, was arrested Wednesday and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, the New Braunfels Police Department wrote on Facebook.
Police responded on Monday around noon to a report of a stabbing incident near the intersection of North Market Avenue and East San Antonio Street in New Braunfels.
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Michael Martin Ochwat, 66, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. (New Braunfels Police Department)
When officers arrived, they found a 55-year-old male victim who had suffered a slash wound to his upper body.
Paramedics were called to the scene and provided immediate medical attention before transporting the victim to a hospital in serious but stable condition. The victim has since been released from the hospital.
The preliminary investigation indicates the victim was involved in a dispute with another driver as they were both in their vehicles. Both drivers exited their vehicles when the suspect, who has since been identified as Ochwat, confronted the victim with a machete-type knife.
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The incident happened Monday at around noon near the intersection of North Market Avenue and East San Antonio Street in New Braunfels. (Getty Images)
Ochwat was served an arrest warrant on Wednesday afternoon and taken into custody without incident.
He was booked into the Comal County Jail and has since been released on a $50,000 bond.
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