A Texas man who admitted to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and shooting to death an 18-year-old woman in 2001 was executed Wednesday night.
Ramiro Gonzalez, 41, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. after being injected with a chemical agent at Huntsville State Prison for the January 2001 murder of Bridget Townsend.
Gonzalez made his final statement in the execution chamber, repeatedly apologizing to his victims’ families, as his spiritual leader placed his left hand on his chest and prayed before he began his statement.
“Words cannot express the pain and hurt I have caused you all and what I can never take back. I hope this apology is enough,” he said.
“I kept praying that you would forgive me and that I would be given the opportunity to one day apologize. You all saved my life and I hope that one day you will forgive me,” he added, moments before being administered a lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital.
As the drug took effect, he took seven breaths and then began to make a snoring noise. Within a minute, all movement had stopped. Authorities said he died 24 minutes after the injection began.
Gonzales kidnapped Townsend, who would have turned 41 on Wednesday, from her rural home in Bandera County, northwest of San Antonio. He then took her to his family’s ranch in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted and killed her. Gonzales, who was serving two life sentences for kidnapping and raping another woman, wasn’t found until October 2002, when he led authorities to southwest Texas, where they found the body.
“We have finally witnessed justice being served,” Townsend’s brother, David, said after witnessing the execution. “This day marks the end of a long and painful journey for our family. For more than 20 years we have endured unimaginable pain and heartache.”
He said Gonzalez’s death “gives us some peace of mind. I would say we’re not pleased, we’re not happy. It’s a very sad day for everyone.”
About an hour and a half before the execution was scheduled to begin, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a defense motion to intervene. The court ruled that Gonzalez’s defense had argued that he had taken responsibility for his actions and that the prosecution’s expert witnesses had been wrong in testifying that Gonzalez would pose a future danger to society — a legal finding necessary to grant the death penalty.
“He has seriously devoted himself to self-improvement, meditation and prayer and has grown into a mature, peaceful, kind, loving man of deep faith. He has acknowledged his crimes, atoned for them and sought redemption through his actions,” Gonzalez’s lawyers wrote in a petition on Monday. A group of religious leaders has also called on authorities to halt Gonzalez’s execution.
Gonzalez’s lawyers argue that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals violated his constitutional rights by not reviewing his argument that the prosecution’s expert, psychiatrist Edward Gripon, falsely predicted Gonzalez would become a dangerous person in the future. After reevaluating Gonzalez in 2022, Gripon said his prediction was incorrect.
“I just want [Townsend’s mother] “I want to know that I am truly sorry. I took everything that was precious to my mother,” Gonzalez, who was 18 at the time of the killing, said in a video filed with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles in connection with his application for clemency. “So it’s a constant job of doing everything I can every day to feel responsible for the life that was taken.”
Bridget Townsend’s brother wasn’t convinced. In various petitions and posts on change.org, David Townsend criticized efforts to portray Gonzalez as anything other than a convicted murderer who committed “unforgivable acts.” He said the death penalty should be carried out.
“What our family seeks is not revenge, but closure and some measure of peace after years of heartache. That quest is not hindered, and may even be helped, by the decision to allow the perpetrator of our suffering to remain in the public spotlight,” David Townsend wrote.
Earlier this month, a group of 11 evangelical leaders from Texas and across the country urged the parole board and Governor Greg Abbott to halt the execution and grant Gonzalez clemency, citing his current work helping other death row inmates through faith-based programs.
“We, as Christians, write to ask that you spare the life of another Christian, Ramiro Gonzalez. Ramiro has changed, and we believe that because he has changed, the circumstances around him should change too,” they wrote.
On Monday, the parole board voted seven times against commuting Gonzalez’s death sentence. Commissioners also declined to grant him a six-month reprieve.
Prosecutors said Gonzalez was a sex offender who told police he ignored Townsend’s pleas for life, and that he had a long criminal history and showed no remorse, so the jury was right to impose the death penalty.
“The state’s penalty case was overwhelming,” the Texas Attorney General’s office said. “Even if Dr. Gripon’s testimony had been removed from the penalty list, it would not have mattered.”
Gonzalez’s execution will be the second in Texas this year and the eighth in the U.S. Oklahoma on Thursday plans to execute Richard Rojem for the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl in 1984.
