A Texas inmate was executed Wednesday, decades after being convicted of two murders he claimed he did not commit.
Ivan Cantu, 50, was pronounced dead at 6:47 Wednesday night after being administered a lethal injection. He was an inmate at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville.
In 2001, Cantu was convicted of killing his cousin, James Mosqueda, 27, and Mosqueda’s girlfriend, Amy Kitchen, 22. The couple was found shot to death in November 2000.
Cantu maintained his innocence Wednesday as Kitchen’s relatives looked on, saying in his last words, “I want you to know that I didn’t kill James and Amy,” the Associated Press reported. Reported. “If I had known, if anyone had known, you would have been the first to know any information.”
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This undated booking photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows Texas death row inmate Ivan Cantu, who was executed on Wednesday. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice, via AP/File)
According to the Associated Press, Cantu also said that he never thought his death would bring “an end. Even if it did, if this is what is needed or if you have any reservations in your mind. That’s fine,” he said.
Cantu is accused of trying to steal marijuana, cocaine and cash from drug dealer Mosqueda in north Dallas, then killing him along with his girlfriend.
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Cantu had claimed that his cousin was actually killed by a rival drug dealer.
The inmate’s ex-girlfriend, Amy Boettcher, testified that Cantu confessed to intending to kill Mosqueda and Kitchens, but Cantu’s attorney said the testimony was riddled with false statements.
Cantu’s attorney, Gina Bunn, said Boettcher’s testimony that Cantu stole Mosqueda’s Rolex watch is false, as is Boettcher’s claim that he gave Cantu an engagement ring that the deceased inmate stole from the kitchen. I objected.
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Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas, where death row inmates are executed. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images/File)
Ban has gathered new evidence that purportedly proves Cantu’s innocence, but confirmed shortly before the inmate’s execution that he would not appeal to the Federal Supreme Court. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals earlier ruled that new evidence in the case was “unreliable.”
The court argued that “none of these apply.” [the new evidence] Significant incriminating evidence against Cantu would be compromised. ”
Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis recently said, “We are confident that Ivan Cantu brutally murdered two innocent victims in 2000.”
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Cantu’s execution was the first in 2024 in the Lone Star State. The next execution is scheduled for the summer. Inmate James Harris Jr.’s March 13 execution date was postponed after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted him a stay of execution.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
