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HUNTSVILLE, Texas – A member of the notorious group of the "Texas 7" group of escaped prisoners was executed on Tuesday night for the murder of a police officer from the Dallas suburbs. of an armed robbery of 18 years ago years ago. Joseph Garcia received a lethal injection at Huntsville State Penitentiary following the shooting death of 29-year-old police officer Irving, Aubrey Hawkins.
The guard asked him if he had a final statement. Sir. "
" Dear Heavenly Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do, "says Garcia.
He then paused for a minute before speaking again while the muffled motorbikes were revolting, a group of bikers supporting the police could be heard inside the mortuary chamber.
"For some of you," says Garcia, interrupting again because the lethal dose of sedative pentobarbital had apparently already begun.
"They have already started and I have not even finished," he said.
He gasped three times and snored twice before everything His death was pronounced at 6:43 pm
Garcia, 47, became the 22nd sentenced to death this year in the United States and the 12th to receive a lethal injection in Texas. the country the busiest in terms of capital punishment.
Garcia, who was serving a sentence of fifty Prisoners for murder and was part of a group of inmates who escaped from a South Texas jail this month and who had committed numerous robberies, including the one in which they were shot 11 bullets at Hawkins, killing him.
He ended his Christmas Eve dinner with his family when he responded to the call regarding the robbery at a sports goods store and was ambushed.
Escaped inmates were eventually arrested in Colorado, ending a six-week-old manhunt. One of them was killed while the officers were nearby and the other six were convicted of murdering Hawkins and sentenced to death.
Garcia was the fourth of the group put to death. Two others are still on death row.
Garcia's lawyers had asked the US Supreme Court to suspend his execution, claiming that he had never shot his gun at Hawkins or wanted to kill him. J. Stephen Cooper, one of his lawyers, said that prosecutors did not have any information showing that his client was one of the shooters.
"He did nothing violent, nor prepared nor encouraged anyone else," Cooper said.
The High Court dismissed Garcia's appeals on Tuesday night.
Garcia was convicted under Texas party law, according to which a person may be held responsible for the crime committed by another individual if she attends or attempts to help. in the commission of this crime.
At the time of the prison, Garcia was serving a sentence for the murder of Miguel Luna in San Antonio. Luna's parents and three daughters were among Garcia's performance witnesses, along with two of Hawkins' friends. They did not put themselves at the disposal of the journalists after the punishment.
Toby Shook, the senior prosecutor in charge of Garcia's case and the five other people tried, said that although the authorities could not accurately determine which escaped inmate had used his gun to shoot. Hawkins, the inmates acted as a team to commit the robbery and murder of the officer.
Shook stated that the Garcia case was a clear example of why the right of the parties is necessary in some cases.
"He was at the height of his ears He was actively involved in everything," said Shook, now a defense attorney in Dallas.
Shook said that Garcia's execution would be a new step in closing the Hawkins family and law enforcement.
"In the end, we can finally close the book on them once the punishment is over," he said.
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