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TEXAS (USA): GUSTAVO GARCIA EXECUTED
February 16, 2016: Gustavo Garcia, 43, Hispanic, was executed.
Garcia was sentenced to death after confessing to the murders of two clerks during separate robberies. Garcia was convicted in the Dec. 9, 1990 murder of Craig Turski, 43, during an armed robbery. He was 18 at the time of the crime, and his accomplice in the crime, Christopher Vargas, was 15.
A month later, Garcia, Vargas and Garcia's girlfriend robbed a gas station, and again killed the store clerk, Gregory Martin, 18.
Garcia confessed to both crimes and was sentenced to death for Turski’s death in January 1992, according to court documents.
He was never tried in Martin’s case. As a minor, Vargas was ineligible for the death penalty, and was sentenced to life in prison.
Garcia's death sentence was overturned on appeal in 2000, due to testimony from psychologist Walter Quijano, who the Texas Tribune reported had testified "that Hispanics were more likely to pose a future danger to society." He was granted a new sentencing trial, but was sentenced to death again in 2001.
Garcia becomes the 3rd inmate to be put to death this year in Texas and the 534th overall since Texas resumed executions on December 7, 1982. Garcia becomes the 6th inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 1428th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 1977. (Sources: BuzzFeedNews, Associated Press & Rick Halperin)
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