Nov. 26
TEXAS—-new death sentence
Fabian Hernandez sentenced to death—-Jury's decision comes 2 weeks after
trial began
Jurors on Wednesday sentenced a 34-year-old man to death for the murders
of his former wife and her friend. The defendant, Fabian Hernandez, will
get an automatic appeal and can expect to spend at least 6 years on death
row.
As Thanksgiving approached, the jury handed up the death sentence a little
more than 2 weeks after Hernandez's trial began. The jurors deliberated
for 17 hours across three days before deciding Hernandez should die for
killing Renee Urbina Hernandez, 28, and Arthur Lee Fonseca, 24.
Hernandez remained stoic as District Court Judge Angie Juarez Barill read
the verdict. His head bowed, he then smiled briefly as he consulted with
his attorneys.
In contrast, his mother, Socorro Hernandez, began crying as soon as she
entered the courtroom.
Barill asked Fabian Hernandez whether he wanted to say anything, but he
declined. His relatives said they had no comment.
Hernandez's trial began 3 years after the murders. Jurors found that he
shot both victims in the head outside the West Side home of Renee
Hernandez's parents.
Prosecutors said Fabian Hernandez, jealous because his ex-wife had
expressed a romantic interest in Fonseca, killed them in cold blood.
Fabian and Renee Hernandez's 2 young sons were asleep in the home during
the shootings.
Cynthia Estevis, sister of Renee Hernandez, testified that the murders
wounded her family forever.
"We must all live with a huge void in our hearts without Renee," Estevis
said to Fabian
(source: El Paso Times)
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Death row's condemned prisoners speak mostly of love – not regret
Prisoners on death row in the US most frequently utter the word "love" in
their final statements, research has found.
Newsweek magazine analysed the final statements of all 446 men and women
executed in Texas since the Supreme Court reintroduced the sentence in
1976.
"Love" tops the list with 630 mentions. It is 3 times more common than
"sorry" in a list that finds that many more inmates protest that they are
"innocent" to the last than admit they are "guilty".
"Thanks" was the 2nd most common word, with 243 mentions amongst the 446
inmates executed.
The list was compiled by looking at the last words of death row prisoners
including those of 2 inmates executed last week.
Danielle Simpson, who was given the lethal injection last Wednesday for
killing an 84-year-old woman, gave a typical response when asked for his
final words.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which publishes all the
statements online, recorded the murderer as saying: "Yeah, I want to tell
my family I love y'all. Tell Kate I love her too. Tell brothers, my kids I
love y'all. I'm gonna miss y'all. I'm ready, ready."
Alongside 3 mentions of "love", "ready" also features twice. In all,
"ready" is mentioned 65 times by those executed in Texas since the
sentence was reintroduced, according to Newsweek's analysis.
There is only 1 mention of "afraid" in the list.
Religion is a common theme, with "God" the 4th most commonly mentioned
word. It is joined in the index by "Lord", "Jesus", "Allah", "heaven" and
"hell".
20 mentions of "closure" were recorded, but only 12 of "regret".
(source: The Telegraph)