Texas Executes John Allen Rubio for Murdering Three Children
John Allen Rubio, convicted of murdering three young children he helped raise, has been executed in the US state of Texas. The 46-year-old from Brownsville in South Texas received a lethal injection on Thursday evening at a state prison in Huntsville, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The AP said Rubio was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m., 21 minutes after the lethal injection began. The execution, scheduled for 6 p.m., proceeded without incident.
Rubio was convicted of stabbing and beheading the three children: Julissa Quezada, 3, John Esteban Rubio, 1, and Mary Jane Rubio, 2 months old. He was prosecuted alongside his common-law wife, Angela Camacho.
In his final statement, Rubio thanked his friends and family for their love and understanding and said he was not the same person he once was, while expressing his love for his wife, according to the AP. 'I want to say I'm sorry to my wife's family,' he said. 'I can't change the past but I can tell you my life is going to be over. But that's not going to make you happy.'
Rubio added: 'I'm going to be with my kids in a little bit. I'm ready to go to heaven to be with my lord and savior.'
The AP reported that the killings dated back to March 11, 2003, when Rubio and Camacho killed the three children inside a windowless apartment. According to court records, Rubio was not the biological father of the two older children but had taken on a parental role in their lives.
In the lead-up to the killings, Rubio reportedly claimed the children were possessed and cast himself as the 'chosen one' destined to save the world. During the trials he at one point pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Defense experts diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, but prosecution experts disputed the findings.
His defense team also painted a picture of a deeply troubled childhood, citing violence, toxic parents, drug use and prostitution as factors that allegedly stunted his development, the AP said.
Camacho pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence for her role in the deaths, according to reports. The apartment building where the children were killed has since been demolished, with the property transformed into a community park and garden, according to the AP.
Rubio's death was the second of two executions scheduled in the United States on Thursday. Just hours earlier, James Pavatt, 73, was put to death by lethal injection in Oklahoma. Pavatt was convicted of plotting and carrying out the 2001 killing of his partner's estranged husband.
