HUNTSVILLE, Texas — A Texas man who admitted he kidnapped, sexually assaulted and fatally shot an 18-year-old woman in 2001 was executed Wednesday evening.
Ramiro Gonzales, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. following a chemical injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the January 2001 killing of Bridget Townsend.
Gonzales was repeatedly apologetic to the victim's relatives in his last statement from the execution chamber.
''I can't put into words the pain I have caused y'all, the hurt, what I took away that I cannot give back. I hope this apology is enough,'' he said.
''I never stopped praying that you would forgive me and that one day I would have this opportunity to apologize. I owe all of you my life and I hope one day you will forgive me,'' he added, just before the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began flowing.
As the drug took effect, he took seven breaths, then began sounds like snores. Within less than a minute, all movement had stopped.
Gonzales kidnapped Townsend, who would have turned 41 on Wednesday, from a rural home in Bandera County, northwest of San Antonio. He later took her to his family's ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted her before killing her. Her body wasn't found until October 2002, when Gonzales led authorities to her remains in southwest Texas after he had received two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman.
''We have finally witnessed justice be being served,'' Townsend's brother, David, said after watching the execution. ''This day marks the end of a long and painful journey for our family. For over two decades we have endured unimaginable pain and heartache.''