Execution Report: Miguel Paredes

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A jury found Paredes guilty of capital murder in October 2001 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in January 2004.

John Anthony Saenz was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to three concurrent terms of life imprisonment. Gregorio Alvarado, according to the San Antonio Express-News, "took a plea deal."

In an interview from death row the week before his execution, Paredes expressed remorse for the killings and for his involvement in a gang. "All that gang life folklore, the romanticism - it's crap," he said. "As long as one kid sees beyond all that crap because of my situation, that's fine." He said that he planned to address the families of his victims from the execution chamber, "to tell them that if I could, I'd take this away from them and feel it myself."

Paredes also lamented that his loved ones were affected by his death sentence. "The reality of the death penalty," he said, is that it affects "people that are invisible, like my son, my loved ones, my family. They're the ones really carrying that burden."

Paredes' execution was delayed for a few minutes because prison officials took longer than usual two insert the two IV lines called for by procedure.

As four of his friends entered a viewing room adjacent to the death chamber, Paredes smiled, mouthed kisses to them, and told them he loved them. No friends or relatives of the victims attended the execution.

In his last statement, Paredes said he hoped his victims' family members would "let go of all the hate because of all of my actions."

"I came in as a lion and I come as peaceful as a lamb," he continued. "I'm at peace. I hope society sees who else they are hurting with this." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:54 p.m.

Paredes was the 10th prisoner executed in Texas in 2014. He was the 279th prisoner executed during the 14-year tenure of Governor Rick Perry, who will leave office on 20 January 2015. Two more executions are currently scheduled for the first half of January.

By David Carson. Posted on 29 October 2014. Error in number of executions under Perry corrected on 23 January.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Texas Attorney General's office, court documents, Associated Press, San Antonio Express-News.