Nov. 2
TEXAS:
3 Texas death row inmates lose at Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused appeals from 3 Texas death row inmates,
including one set to die this month.
The high court Monday refused to review the case of 45-year-old Gerald
Cornelius Eldridge, facing execution Nov. 17 for the fatal shootings of
his former girlfriend and her daughter in Houston almost 17 years ago.
The justices also rejected appeals from 37-year-old Rigoberto Avila, sent
to death row for stomping his girlfriend's baby to death nearly 10 years
ago in El dPaso, and from 40-year-old John Balentine, condemned for the
slaying of three teenagers in Amarillo almost 12 years ago.
Balentine won a reprieve from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in
September a day before he was scheduled to die.
(source: Associated Press)
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El Pasoan's Death Penalty Appeal Denied
Rigoberto Avila will die for killing a 19-month-old boy.
Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused Avila's appeal, as well as appeals
from 2 other Texas death row inmates.
Avila, 37, was sent to death row nearly 10 years ago after being found
guilty of killing his girlfriend's toddler son by stomping the child to
death. Medical experts testified the force of the blow to the boy's
abdoment dislodged the boy's organs from his spine.
Avila testified he killed the child because he was jealous of the
attention his girlfriend gave the young boy.
The high court also refused to review the case of Gerald Cornelius
Eldridge, 45, who faces execution Nov. 17 for the deadly shootings of his
former girlfriend and her daughter in Houston almost 17 years ago.
The justices also rejected an appeal from John Balentine, 40, who was
condemned for the slaying of 3 teenagers in Amarillo almost 12 years ago.
(source: KFOX TV News)