A Texas man who admitted to kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and fatally shooting an 18-year-old woman in 2001 was executed Wednesday evening, the victim’s 41st birthday.
Ramiro Gonzales, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. CDT after receiving a chemical injection at the Huntsville State Penitentiary for the murder of Bridget Townsend in January 2001.
Gonzales again apologized to the victim’s relatives in his final statement from the death chamber.
“I can’t put into words the agony I’ve caused you, the hurt, and what I’ve taken away that I can’t return. “I hope this apology is sufficient,” he stated.
“I never stopped praying that you would forgive me and allow me to apologize. I owe you all my life, and I hope you will forgive me one day,” he said, moments before the deadly dose of the sedative pentobarbital was administered.
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As the medicine took effect, he took seven breaths and began making snoring sounds. Within less than a minute, all movement had ceased.
Bridget Townsend’s remains were not discovered until October 2002, nearly two years after her disappearance, when Ramiro Gonzales, who had earned two life terms for kidnapping and raping another woman, led officials to the location where he left her body.
Patricia Townsend, the victim’s mother, informed USA Today that June 26 is her daughter’s birthday. She would have turned 41 on Wednesday.
“When they informed me June 26, I started crying, screaming and crying,” she recalled.” “That’s her birthday.”
Gonzales, 41, was sentenced to death for shooting Townsend after stealing narcotics and money and kidnapping her in January 2001 from her home in Bandera County, northwest of San Antonio. He brought her to his family’s ranch in nearby Medina County, where he sexually raped and killed her.
The United States Supreme Court denied a defense request to intervene roughly 1 and 1/2 hours before the execution was supposed to begin. The Supreme Court dismissed Gonzales’ defenders’ arguments that he had accepted responsibility for his actions and that a prosecution expert witness now admits he was mistaken in testifying that Gonzales would be a future risk to society, a legal finding required to inflict the death penalty.
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“He has given himself earnestly to self-improvement, contemplation, and prayer, maturing into a mature, serene, kind, loving, and sincerely religious adult. Gonzales’ lawyers stated in their appeal on Monday that he accepts responsibility for his misdeeds and has attempted to atone and seek atonement via his conduct. A coalition of Christian groups has also urged authorities to halt Gonzales’ execution.
Gonzales’ lawyers claimed that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals violated his constitutional rights by neglecting to investigate his claims that a prosecution expert, psychiatrist Edward Gripon, incorrectly stated Gonzales was a potential danger. After reevaluating Gonzales in 2022, Gripon said his prognosis was incorrect.
“I simply want (Townsend’s mother) to know how sorry I am. “I took everything valuable from a mother,” Gonzales, who was 18 at the time of the death, said in a video submitted as part of his mercy request to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. “So, every day it’s a continual task to do everything that I can to feel that responsibility for the life that I took.”
“Unforgivable acts”
Bridget Townsend’s brother was not convinced. In multiple petitions and articles on Change.org, David Townsend opposed efforts to portray Gonzales as anything other than a convicted murderer who committed “unforgivable acts.” He stated that the death sentence should be carried out.
“Our family seeks not revenge, but closure and a measure of peace after years of heartache – a quest that is hindered, not helped, by decisions that allow the perpetrator of our pain to remain in the public eye,” wrote author David Townsend.
Earlier this month, a group of 11 evangelical leaders from Texas and across the country petitioned the parole board and Gov. Greg Abbott to postpone Gonzalez’s execution and award him clemency, claiming he now helps other death row inmates through a faith-based program.
“We are writing as Christians to ask you to spare the life of another Christian, Ramiro Gonzales.” Ramiro has changed. “We believe that because he has changed, the circumstances around him should also change,” they wrote.
On Monday, the parole board decided 7-0 against reducing Gonzales’ death sentence to a lesser punishment. Members also opposed providing a six-month reprieve.
Prosecutors portrayed Gonzales as a sexual predator who told police he ignored Townsend’s pleas to save her life. They contended that jurors made the correct judgment in imposing the death penalty since he had a lengthy criminal record and had no remorse.
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“The State’s punishment case was overwhelming,” the Texas Attorney General’s Office stated. “Even if Dr. Gripon’s testimony were wiped from the punishment slate, it would not have mattered.”
Gonzales’ execution is the second this year in Texas. Ivan Cantu, a convicted killer, was executed in February. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there are now 185 persons on Texas’ death row CBSNEWS reported.
“She was a beautiful person who loved life and people,” Patricia Townsend told USA Today about her daughter. “Every time she met someone she hadn’t seen in a long, she had to hug them… “She did not deserve what she received.”
Before the execution, she informed USA Today that it would be a “joyful occasion” for her and her family.
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