Texas moving forward with Wednesday execution of Ramiro Gonzales

Jun. 25—HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Faith. Hope. Love. That is how death row inmate Ramiro Felix Gonzales, 41, signs his correspondence these days.

Gonzales is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 26, for a murder he committed a few months after his 18th birthday.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency for Gonzales on Monday.

The board voted 7-0 against a commutation or 180-day reprieve. Gov. Greg Abbott is now limited legally to a one-time 30-day stay.

According to a website dedicated to the effort to save his life, Gonzales' 2022 execution date was stayed after a diverse group of voices — from religious leaders to correctional officers to the state's psychological expert — called for his execution to be halted.

The murder of Bridget Townsend resulted in Gonzales' conviction and sentence of execution in 2005, making him one of the youngest people sentenced to death at the time in the United States.

In a petition filed June 4, his attorney, Michael C. Gross of Gross & Esparza of San Antonio, asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Greg Abbott to commute the death sentence to a lesser penalty or give a 180-day reprieve to hold an interview and hearing on the matter.

The petition explained the murder of Townsend as "an offense he committed when he was just barely eighteen. At the time, Ramiro was gripped by a serious addiction rooted in his exposure to drugs while still in the womb, compounded by the trauma and neglect that marked his childhood."

Gonzales' history as a child was characterized by drugs, alcohol, abuse and abandonment. The petition noted that his mother gave him up at birth to be raised by her parents, and he first met his father in a county jail at the age of 19.

The petition includes details of how Townsend was kidnapped and murdered while Gonzales tried to steal drugs from his dealer, and how he remained at large for eight months before abducting and raping a Bandera real estate agent.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the abduction and rape.

Gonzales didn't confess to the murder of Townsend until interviewed by a television news reporter, according to the petition. He led authorities to her remains. For her murder, Gonzales was sentenced to death.

In the 18 years that he has been on death row, Gonzales, reportedly, has devoted himself to self-improvement, contemplation and prayer. With God's hand on his shoulder he has grown into a mature and peaceful adult, according to the petition.