A Texas death row inmate, David Renteria, who was convicted of strangling a 5-year-old girl nearly 22 years ago, has had his execution temporarily halted by Texas’ top criminal appeals court. The court’s decision came just before Renteria was scheduled to receive a lethal injection on October 26. Renteria was sentenced to death for the November 2001 abduction and murder of Alexandra Flores, whose body was found in an alley 16 miles away from the Walmart store where she was last seen.
According to prosecutors, Renteria abducted Alexandra while she was Christmas shopping with her family and later killed her. Renteria has long claimed that members of the Barrio Azteca gang forced him to take the girl, threatening his family if he refused. He maintains that it was the gang members who ultimately killed Alexandra. However, evidence presented during the trial, including DNA matching Alexandra’s blood found in Renteria’s van and his palm print on a plastic bag used to cover her head, supports the prosecution’s argument that he acted alone.
Renteria’s lawyers have made several unsuccessful appeals to halt his execution, arguing that they have been denied access to the prosecution’s file on Renteria, which they claim violates his constitutional rights. They also point to witness statements from a woman who alleged her ex-husband, a member of the Barrio Azteca gang, was involved in the death of a girl who went missing from a Walmart. However, a federal judge in 2018 dismissed these claims, deeming the woman’s statement unreliable.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recently voted against commuting Renteria’s death sentence or granting a reprieve. If executed, Renteria would be the eighth inmate in Texas to be put to death this year. Another execution is scheduled to take place in Alabama on the same day, where Casey McWhorter is set to receive a lethal injection for a 1993 robbery and murder.
The case of David Renteria highlights the ongoing debate surrounding the death penalty in the United States. While Renteria’s lawyers argue for his innocence and claim that gang members were responsible for the girl’s death, the prosecution maintains that he acted alone. The decision by Texas’ top criminal appeals court to temporarily halt Renteria’s execution underscores the importance of thorough examination of evidence and due process in capital punishment cases.
