A Texas man who admitted kidnapping, sexually assaulting and shooting to death his drug dealer’s 18-year-old girlfriend was scheduled to be executed Wednesday — what would have been the victim’s 41st birthday.
Bridget Townsend’s remains were not found until October 2002, almost two years after she disappeared. Ramiro Gonzalesafter serving two life sentences for the kidnapping and rape of another woman, led authorities to the southwest Texas location where he left her body.
Change.org
His execution by lethal injection was scheduled for Wednesday evening at the state prison in Huntsville.
Patricia Townsend, the victim’s mother, told USA Today that June 26 is her daughter’s birthday. She would have turned 41 on Wednesday.
“When they told me June 26, I started crying and crying and crying,” she said. “That’s her birthday.”
Gonzales, 41, was convicted of fatally shooting Townsend after he stole drugs and money and kidnapped her in January 2001 from a home in Bandera County, northwest of San Antonio. He took her to his family’s farm in neighboring Medina County, where he sexually assaulted and murdered her.
Gonzales’ lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his execution, arguing that he has taken responsibility for what he did and that an expert witness for the prosecution now says he was wrong when he testified that Gonzales was a would be a future danger to society, a legal finding. necessary to impose a death sentence.
“He has sincerely devoted himself to self-improvement, contemplation and prayer, and has grown into a mature, peaceful, kind, loving and deeply religious adult. He recognizes his responsibility for his crimes and has sought to atone for them and seek redemption through his actions,” Gonzales’ attorneys wrote in their petition Monday. A group of religious leaders also asked authorities to stop Gonzales’ execution.
Gonzales’ attorneys argue that the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals violated his constitutional rights by refusing to review his claims that a prosecution expert, psychiatrist Edward Gripon, falsely claimed Gonzales was a future danger. After reevaluating Gonzales in 2022, Gripon said his prediction was wrong.
“I just want (Townsend’s mother) to know how sorry I am. I took everything that was valuable from a mother,” Gonzales, who was 18 at the time of the killing, said in a video submitted as part of his petition for clemency to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. “So it’s a constant task every day to do everything I can to feel responsible for the life that I took.”
“Unforgivable Acts”
Bridget Townsend’s brother isn’t convinced. In several petitions and posts on Change.org, David Townsend has criticized efforts to portray Gonzales as anything other than a convicted murderer who committed “unforgivable acts.” He said the death sentence should be carried out.
“Our family is not seeking revenge, but closure and some measure of peace after years of grief. A quest hindered rather than aided by decisions that allow the perpetrator of our pain to remain in the public eye,” wrote David Townsend.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Earlier this month, a group of 11 evangelical leaders from Texas and around the country asked the parole board and Governor Greg Abbott to halt the execution and pardon Gonzalez. He said he now helps other death row inmates through a faith-based program.
“We write as Christians and call on you to spare the life of another Christian – Ramiro Gonzales. Ramiro has changed. Because he has changed, we believe the circumstances around him must change as well,” they wrote.
On Monday, the parole board voted 7-0 against commuting Gonzales’ death sentence to a lesser sentence. Members also rejected granting a six-month extension.
Prosecutors described Gonzales as a sexual predator who told police he ignored Townsend’s pleas to spare her life. They argued that jurors made the right decision on a death sentence because he had a long criminal history and showed no remorse.
“The state’s criminal case was overwhelming,” the Texas attorney general’s office said. ‘Even if the testimony of Dr. Gripon had been removed from the criminal list, it would not have mattered.’
If Gonzales’ execution goes ahead, it would be the second in Texas this year. Convicted murderer Ivan Cantu was executed in February. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, there are currently 185 people on death row in Texas.
“She was a beautiful person who loved life and loved people,” Patricia Townsend told USA Today of her daughter. “Every time she was with someone she hadn’t seen in a while, she had to hug him… She didn’t deserve what she got.”
She told USA Today that the execution will be a “joyful event” for her and her family.
