Andrew Flores was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Juan Moreno
According to court documents Andrew Flores would go into a Stop And Go store where he would hold the clerk at gunpoint demanding money. When Juan Moreno handed over the money Flores would then demand his car keys. When Juan Moreno asked him not to take his car he would be fatally shot
Andrew Flores would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Andrew Flores would be executed by lethal injection on September 21 2004
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When Was Andrew Flores Executed
Andrew Flores was executed on September 21 2004
Andrew Flores Case
In his days as a gang leader on the streets of San Antonio, Andrew Flores was known as “Showtime.” Tuesday, he’s scheduled to show up in the Texas death chamber to face lethal injection for fatally shooting a store clerk who surrendered $45 from a cash register but balked at turning over his car keys. Flores, 32, would be the 13th Texas prison inmate put to death this year. At least 11 others have execution dates for later this year, including five next month.
The U.S. Supreme Court in April refused to review his case, and no additional appeals were anticipated to try to halt the punishment. “Unfortunately, legally there’s nothing left,” his lawyer, Michael Gross, said. Gross filed a commutation request to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles, which rejected it Friday by a 6-0 vote. “It’s an exercise in futility,” Gross said.
Flores was condemned for the July 1993 death of John Moreno, 23, whose murder was captured on videotape by a surveillance camera at the San Antonio store. Flores and a companion were recognized after the tape was aired on San Antonio television stations. They were arrested within hours of the shooting. At the time, Flores was on probation for car theft and had other arrests for theft and weapons violations. “I do remember when police caught up with him, he was trying to leave town and changed the color of his hair and was in the process of packing bags,” Mike Cohen, the Bexar County assistant district attorney who prosecuted the capital murder case, said last week.
Flores, who declined to speak from death row with reporters in the weeks leading up to his execution, pleaded guilty to the capital murder charge just as his trial was to get under way. He had confessed to the crime and gave to authorities cash taken in the robbery and the .22-caliber handgun used in the slaying. Prosecutors said the plea may have been an attempt to win some sympathy from jurors. “Obviously it didn’t work in this case,” Cohen said.
During the punishment phase of the trial, witnesses were told how Flores led a street gang that recruited fourth-graders to fight and steal for him.
Jurors also were shown the video, which brought at least one juror to tears. “You can see the entire capital murder being committed,” Cohen said. “After the clerk refuses to give Mr. Flores his car keys, he gets on his knees begging for his life and Mr. Flores shoots him in the head. “It’s fair to say the jury really had no choice but to reach this verdict. When you see a guy begging for his life and see him get shot in the head, and see on videotape that while the man is bleeding to death the defendant is rifling through his pockets after he shot him … the jury did not take long to reach their decision.”
Flores’ partner, Joseph Fritz, was convicted of capital murder for being the lookout during the robbery and received a life prison term. Testimony at his trial indicated they couldn’t drive off in Moreno’s car because Flores took the wrong keys from the dying man’s pocket. Cohen speculated Moreno was reluctant to surrender his keys because he and his wife had only that one car and it was needed to take their then 10-month-old daughter for frequent medical treatment.
Next on the Texas execution calendar is Edward Green III, 30, condemned for fatally shooting a 72-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman in their car during a robbery 12 years ago at a Houston intersection
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