Execution Report: Guadalupe Esparza

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Manuel testified that he confronted Esparza, who replied, "I didn't do nothing. I don't know what you are talking about." The two men then began arguing and fighting, and Manuel's brother made Esparza leave the house.

On rebuttal, Esparza claimed that Manuel and Teresa Longoria's allegations against him were false and were the result of "bad blood" between himself and Manuel. He stated that he was targeted as Alyssa's killer because he was a registered sex offender who lived nearby, who knew the victim's mother, and who just happened to have been at the victim's apartment on the night of her death. He claimed that the witnesses who testified against him were participants in a conspiracy organized by the district attorney's office, and he contested the accuracy and conclusiveness of the DNA evidence against him.

A jury convicted Esparza of capital murder in March 2001 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in June 2003. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

Robin Wellbrock, the babysitter, died of a heart attack in 2004.

Esparza maintained his innocence in an interview from Death Row. He admitted that he went to the victim's apartment hoping to see her mother, but left when she wasn't there. "Diana wasn't there, and Robin told me she didn't want me there," he said, "So I went to a bar like, a mile away, Barton's Boozery."

Esparza said while at the bar, he got into a fight and cut his hand on a bottle. He left at 2 a.m. and walked home. He threw away his clothes, which were bloodied from the cut, and crawled into bed with his girlfriend.

"I wasn't there when she died, ma'am," he told the reporter. "I have a daughter. I always wanted to be a father. I'm not capable of doing anything like this."

Diana Berlanga, Joel Vasquez, and other members of Alyssa's family attended Esparza's execution. Esparza placed three of his siblings on his witness list, but they did not show up. Two of his friends were present.

"To the family of Alyssa Vasquez, I hope you will find peace in your heart," Esparza said in his last statement. "My sympathy goes out to you. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me. I don't know why all of this happened." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 17 November 2011.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Associated Press, San Antonio Express-News.