8 men in El Paso murder cases on death row; Walmart shooter faces death penalty

The list of death sentences handed down in El Paso increased by one this week when Facundo Chavez, convicted of capital murder, received the death penalty in connection with the March 2019 fatal shooting of El Paso County Sheriff's Office Deputy Peter Herrera.

One more capital murder case is pending, that of the Walmart shooter.

El Paso County has seven other convicted offenders on Texas state death row. David Santiago Renteria's execution date has been set for Nov. 16. No execution dates have been set in other cases.

The oldest pending case involved the murder of several young girls in the late 1980s.

Since 1980, four men — Justin Grant Hall in 2019, William Josef Berkley in 2010, Ricardo Ortiz in 2009 and Ramon Pedro Hernandez in 1987 — in El Paso cases have been put to death.

All were killed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas.

Recent, upcoming death penalty cases

Patrick Crusius

The El Paso Walmart mass shooter, Patrick Crusius, is facing the death penalty in the state case pending against him.

For subscribers: After El Paso Walmart shooting, debate over domestic terrorism law rages on. Here's why.

State prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty against the Walmart shooter.

The admitted white supremacist pleaded guilty in February to 90 federal charges.

He was sentenced July 7 to 90 consecutive life sentences in federal court. The consecutive sentences handed down by Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Guaderrama means the gunman will spend the rest of his life in federal prison.

A trial date in state court has not yet been set.

Facundo Chavez

Facundo Chavez was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in state court in connection with the March 2019 fatal shooting of El Paso County Sheriff's Office Deputy Peter Herrera.

Chavez shot at Herrera 15 times with several shots striking the deputy during a traffic stop in San Elizario, Texas, sheriff's officials and court documents state.

The "unprovoked" attack happened after Herrera pulled over Chavez's car because it had only one headlight and expired registration, officials said.

El Paso Inmates on Death Row

There are seven other El Pasoans currently on death row.

David Leonard Wood

Wood, known as the "Desert Killer," has been on death row since 1992 in connection with the slayings of six teen girls and young women.

The bodies of the girls were found between 1987 and 1988 in a desert area in Northeast El Paso.

The girls' ages ranged between 14 to 24 years old.

Three girls reported missing during this time and whose bodies have not been found were also connected to Wood.

Wood was convicted on a serial murder charge in connection with the Northeast murders. He was sentenced to death.

Wood was scheduled to die by lethal injection on Aug. 20, 2009, but was granted a stay of execution just 24 hours prior.

The stay was given as Wood and his lawyers filed an appeal, arguing that he suffered from severe intellectual disabilities.

The appeal was denied in 2014.

No execution date has been set for Wood as he and his lawyers have requested additional DNA testing, claiming it would show that another man murdered the women and young girls.

David Santiago Renteria

Renteria, 51, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2003 in connection with the death of 5-year-old Alexandra Flores.

Renteria was accused of kidnapping Alexandra Nov. 18, 2001, from a Walmart at 9441 Alameda Ave., as her family went Christmas shopping, the El Paso Times reported.

Alexandra's body was found naked and partially burned the next day in a carport near Downtown.

He remains on death row after several appeals attempts by his lawyers have failed.

His execution date has been set for Nov. 16.

Fidencio Valdez

Valdez, 42, was convicted of capital murder in 2014 and sentenced to death.

Valdez, a reputed Barrio Azteca member, was accused of killing Julio Barrios, 18, and trucker Ralph Ed Tucker, 51, at a strip club outside of Horizon City Nov. 25, 2010.

Valdez was convicted of capital murder in 2014 and sentenced to death in connection with the slayings.

Tucker was shot during a robbery attempt at the strip club.

Barrios was killed during a drug deal to buy ecstasy. Valdez pulled out a gun and shot Barrios in his SUV and then pulled him out of the vehicle, El Paso Times reported. Valdez then shot Barrios a second time.

An execution date has not been set.

Fabian Hernandez

Hernandez, 45, was convicted in connection with the deaths of his ex-wife Renee Urbina Hernandez, 28, and Arthur Lee Fonseca, 24, in 2006, the El Paso Times reported.

Hernandez was accused of killing them out of jealousy because his ex-wife had expressed a romantic interest in Fonseca.

The shooting happened while Hernandez's two young sons were asleep in the home.

Hernandez was sentenced to death in 2009.

He was set to be executed April 23, 2020, but the execution was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, El Paso Times reported.

Irving Alvin Davis

Davis, 38, was convicted of capital murder in connection with rape, mutilating and killing 15-year-old Melissa Medina in 2001.

Davis was accused of following Medina home after she left a party.

Davis allegedly dragged Medina into an elementary school yard, where he choked her with an unknown ligature, hit her in the head with an unidentified object and killed her. He is also accused of sexually assaulting her.

Medina's body was later found in the elementary schoolyard.

Davis was originally convicted and sentenced to death in 2002, but the sentence was overturned by an appeals court.

A retrial was held in 2008 on the sentencing where he was once again sentenced to death.

An execution date has not been set.

Rigoberto Avila, Jr.

Avila, 48, was convicted of capital murder in the death of his girlfriend's 19-month-old son, Nicolas Macias, in 2000.

According to testimony by two medical experts at Avila's trial, Nicolas' injuries were caused by the same amount of force seen in high-speed traffic crashes and could not have been caused by an accident, El Paso Times reported.

Avila allegedly confessed to stomping on Nicolas because he was jealous of the attention his girlfriend was giving the little boy, the El Paso Times reported.

He was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 2001.

Avila was set to be executed Dec. 12, 2012, but it was postponed because it fell on the Catholic Church's feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

An execution date was not reset as Avila's lawyers requested more time to go through evidence.

A district court judge ordered a new trial to be held in the case in 2018 because of new scientific evidence, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2020 rejected the judge's ruling and upheld Avila's conviction.

An execution date has not been set.

Tony Ford

Ford, 48, was convicted of capital murder in the 1991 murder of 18-year-old Armando Murillo during a robbery at Murillo's home.

Ford and an accomplice, Vanjarmar Nash Belton, are accused of forcing their way into the Murillo's home in East El Paso, according to death row records.

The men allegedly demanded money, jewelry and a vehicle.

Ford allegedly shot Murillo, his mother and his sister during the robbery.

He was convicted of capital murder and three counts of attempted capital murder. He was sentenced to death on the capital murder charge, and life in prison on each of the attempted capital murder charges.

Several appeals have been filed in the case. No execution date has been set.

Belton was convicted of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and sentenced to 60 years in prison.

Former death penalty cases

Angel Rivera was originally convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for the 1984 death of 88-year-old Jewel Haygood.

The sentence was reduced to life in prison in 2014, El Paso Times reported.

Cesar Roberto Fierro had his death sentence thrown out in 2019.

Fierro was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in connection with the 1979 robbery and slaying of El Paso taxi driver Nicolas Castanon.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals threw out the sentence, which ordered the sentencing phase of the trial to be retired.

No date has been set on when the retrial will be held.

Ignacio Gomez died due to natural causes in 2019 as he awaited execution.

Gomez was on death row in connection with the murders of 16-year-old twin brothers Michael and Matthew Meredith and 19-year-old Tolbert "Toby" Hatheway Jr. in 1996.

Trish Long may be reached at tlong@elpasotimes.com or 915-546-6179.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Chavez joins 7 men sentenced to death in connection to El Paso murders