Texas prison authorities have scheduled for this Wednesday the execution of a Latino prisoner, who obtained the support of the Supreme Court to have his spiritual guide by his side at the time he receives the lethal injection.
John Henry Ramírez, 38, was sentenced to death for the 2004 killing of Pablo Castro, 46, who was working as a supermarket clerk.
Prosecutors claimed during the trial that the victim was taking out the trash from the store in Corpus Christi when Ramírezle stole $1.25 and stabbed her 29 times.
Photo of John Henry Ramirez provided by the Texas Department of Justice. Texas Department of Justice via AP
Castro's murder took place amid a wave of robberies perpetrated by Ramírez and two other women, after taking drugs for three days in a row.
The condemned man fled to Mexico, but was arrested three and a half years later.
Ramírez challenged rules at the state prison where he was serving time that prevented his pastor from touching him and praying aloud during his execution, claiming they violated his religious freedom.
His request, which delayed his execution and that of others, reached the US Supreme Court, which upheld him, ruling that states must honor the wishes of death row inmates who want their religious leaders to pray and touch them during their executions.
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The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously rejected Monday to commute Ramirez's death sentence to a lesser one.
His attorney, Seth Kretzer, announced that all existing remedies have been exhausted and no final petition to the Supreme Court is planned.
The lead prosecutor in Ramírez's 2008 trial, Mark Skurka, said it was unfair for Ramírez to have someone pray for him at the time of his death, since his victim did not have the same opportunity.
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"It's been a long time [since the crime], but Pablo Castro will probably finally get the justice his family has sought for so long, despite the legal delays," Skurka said.
Ramírez's attorney said that while he empathizes with the Castro family, his client's challenge was to protect religious freedom for all.
Ramírez was not asking for something new, he pointed out, but something that has been part of the jurisprudence throughout history.
Even Nazi war criminals received ministers before their executions after World War II, he alleged.
"That was not a reflection of any favor we did the Nazis," Kretzer reiterated.
"Providing religious accompaniment at the time of death is a reflection of the relative moral strength of the captors."
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Ramírez's case took another twist in April, when Nueces County District Attorney Mark González asked a judge to withdraw the execution order and delay it, saying it had been requested in error.
González said that he considers the death penalty "unethical."
The prosecutor then explained in a live broadcast on Facebook that the death penalty is one of the "many things that are wrong with our justice system" and assured that he will not request the execution of any inmate while in office.
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That same month, four of Castro's nine children filed a motion asking that the execution order be upheld.
"I want my father to finally have his justice, as well as peace to finally continue with my life and for this nightmare to end," asked Fernando Castro, one of his sons, in the letter.
If Ramírez is executed, he will be the third prisoner sentenced to death this year in Texas and the 11th in the United States.
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