Ramon Montoya was executed by the State of Texas for the murder of Dallas Officer John Pasco
According to court documents Ramon Montoya was walking down a Dallas street and Officer John Pasco noticed that he was carrying a gun. When the Officer attempted to take the gun away he would be fatally shot
Ramon Montoya would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Ramon Montoya would be executed by lethal injection on March 25 1993
Ramon Montoya Photos
Ramon Montoya Case
A Mexican convicted of killing a Dallas police officer 10 years ago was executed by lethal injection early this morning, drawing a rebuke from the Government of Mexico.
Ramon Montoya, 38, became the first Mexican executed in Texas in 51 years. Two days earlier the state executed a native of the Dominican Republic, Carlos Santana, despite protests from his native country.
Today’s execution was front-page news across Mexico, where human rights groups questioned the fairness of the trial and accused the American justice system of racism. In San Luis Potosi, Mr. Montoya’s home state in central Mexico, officials said 21 American prisoners had been transferred to a safe place for two weeks because they had reported threats from Mexican inmates over the execution. Execution Toll Reaches 197
Mr. Montoya’s case drew pleas of mercy from Mexico and the Vatican. He came within seven hours of being executed on Jan. 27, but Justice Antonin Scalia issued a reprieve to allow the full Supreme Court to decide whether to hear an appeal. On Wednesday the Court rejected an appeal, which contended that Mr. Montoya’s confession had been improperly obtained.
Mr. Montoya, who was one of nine Mexicans on death row in Texas, was the 56th person executed in the state and the 197th nationwide since 1976, when the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment.
He was convicted of fatally shooting Officer John Pasco, 27, on Jan. 16, 1983. Officer Pasco was shot as he tried to disarm Mr. Montoya, who said the gun went off when he fell while trying to discard it and avoid arrest.
Police records indicated that Mr. Montoya was trying to avoid his 12th arrest in eight years and the possibility of deportation to Mexico.
His last words were to his father, Paz Montoya. “May God help us,” he said. “I’m ready.”
“May God help you, too,” his father replied, then watched impassively as the execution was carried out. Mr. Montoya died seven minutes after a lethal mix of drugs was injected, prison officials said.
Outside the prison, more than two dozen protesters held candles and chanted in Spanish, “Justice!” and “Life, not death!”
Within minutes of Mr. Montoya’s death Mexico’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it “profoundly laments” the execution “and reiterates its opposition to the application of capital punishment as cruel and inhumane.”
