Execution Report: Ramiro Hernandez

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Hernandez, also known as Ramiro Hernandez-Llanas, had a previous conviction for a 1989 bludgeoning murder in his hometown of Neuvo Laredo, Mexico. He was serving a 25-year prison sentence in Mexico when he escaped in 1996 or 1997. He then made his way to Kerrville.

The state also presented evidence that Hernandez stabbed a man in a Kerrville bar and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl. The girl testified that she knew him as the brother of her friend. She accepted a ride from him, then he sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill her and her mother if she told anyone.

While in jail awaiting his capital murder trial, Hernandez assaulted a jailer in the face with a shank when he didn't get eggs for breakfast. He was convicted of an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was given a 40-year sentence for that offense.

A jury found Hernandez guilt of capital murder in February 2000 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in December 2002.

In their appeals, Hernandez's lawyers raised claims that he was mentally retarded, that, as a citizen of Mexico, he was denied his consular rights, and that his execution with compounded pentobarbital could constitute cruel and unusual punishment. An evidentiary hearing was held on his retardation claim in 2006; the court found he was not retarded. In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the state of Texas on the consular rights issue. And, the week before his execution, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district judge's order halting Hernandez's execution on the pentobarbital claim.

The Liches' son attended Hernandez's execution. Hernandez's witnesses included a brother, a sister, and two friends. He raised his head from the gurney three times and blew kisses toward them. "I'm happy," Hernandez said in Spanish. "I am sorry for what I have done. ... I say this with a lot of love and happiness: I have no pain and no guilt. All I have is love." Hernandez's last statement lasted nearly five minutes. The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:28 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 10 April 2014. Misspelling corrected on 27 May 2015.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's office, public data, court documents, Associated Press, San Antonio Express-News.