John Allen Rubio, a Texas death row inmate convicted of beheading his three young children in 1997, was executed by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 6.47pm (US time) at the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas. His final statement included an apology and a declaration that he was ready to die.
Final Words Before Execution
Before the lethal injection was administered, a spiritual adviser prayed briefly over Rubio. He then thanked friends and family for their “love and understanding” and said he was “not the same person I once was.” He also thanked prison staff for teaching him how to find God and expressed love for his common-law wife, Angela Camacho, who is serving a life sentence.
In his chilling last words, Rubio said: “I want to say I’m sorry to my wife’s family. I can’t change the past but I can tell you my life is going to be over. But that’s not going to make you happy.”
He added: “I’m going to be with my kids in a little bit. I’m ready to go to heaven to be with my lord and saviour.”
The 1997 Murders
Rubio and Camacho were accused in the murders of three-year-old Julissa Quesada, 14-month-old John E. Rubio, and two-month-old Mary Jane Rubio in the squalid, windowless apartment they shared in Brownsville, on Texas' border with Mexico. All three children were decapitated by Rubio, with Camacho helping to hold down one child.
According to court records and the couple's own admissions, Rubio first attacked his only biological child, Mary Jane, and decapitated her. He then got Camacho to hold down Julissa while he decapitated her. He subsequently decapitated John when the baby woke up crying.
Background and Aftermath
Rubio, who was known to sniff paint, later told police that he was "the chosen one" and that he had been selected "to help the world" and "help give their life to Jesus," according to reports at the time. Defence experts testified that his childhood, marked by violence at home, "toxic" parents, drug use, and prostitution, damaged him developmentally.
Camacho pleaded guilty and is serving a life sentence. The apartment building where the children were killed was later demolished, and the land was turned into a park and a community garden.
