John Ramirez: Planned execution of man who killed Pablo Castro over $1.25 halted
Update: Texas death row inmate John Henry Ramirez won a reprieve on Wednesday, September 8 evening, from execution for killing convenience store worker 46-year-old Pablo Castro during a 2004 robbery. Ramirez had claimed the state was violating his religious freedom by not letting his pastor lay hands on him at the time of his lethal injection.
As per the latest reports, the US Supreme Court blocked Ramirez’s execution about three hours after he could have been executed. When he was told of the reprieve by Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark, Ramirez was in a small holding cell a few feet from the Texas death chamber at the Huntsville Unit prison. “He was quiet when I let him know,” Clark said. “He shook his head and said: ‘Thank you very much. God bless you.’”
Reports say that in its brief order, the court directed its clerk to establish a briefing schedule so Ramirez’s case could be argued in October or November.
---------------
Texas death row inmate John Henry Ramirez is set to be executed on Wednesday, September 8, 2021, for killing a convenience store worker more than 17 years ago in a robbery that garnered just $1.25. But he has one final request. Ramirez is asking that his pastor be allowed to lay hands on him as he dies by lethal injection. While the prisoner’s last request to the state was rejected, Ramirez reportedly argued the decision violates his religious rights.
Ramirez’s request to have his spiritual adviser touch him and vocalize prayers when he is executed has been turned down by Texas prison officials, who have argued that direct contact poses a security risk and the vocal prayer could be disruptive. When rejecting the request by the 37-year-old prisoner, US District Judge David Hittner ruled last week, "[The Texas Department of Criminal Justice] has a compelling interest in maintaining an orderly, safe, and effective process when carrying out an irrevocable, and emotionally charged, procedure."
The judge added that TDCJ "will accommodate Ramirez's religious beliefs by giving Ramirez access to his pastor on the day of execution and allowing him to stand nearby during the execution." Ramirez is set to be executed Wednesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville with a lethal injection after 6 pm on Wednesday, September 8, 2021.
READ MORE
Who are Brad Sigmon and Freddie Owens? Death row inmates first to be executed in SC in 10 years
Who killed Stephen Hugueley? 'Suicidal' death row inmate who murdered his mom dies in jail
In 2008, Ramirez was convicted for the 2004 killing of 46-year-old Pablo Castro.
Castro was taking the trash out from a Corpus Christi convenience store when prosecutors say Ramirez accosted him. Castro had nine children and had reportedly worked at the convenience store for more than a decade when he was killed. During a series of robberies in which the inmate and two women sought money following a three-day drug binge, Ramirez went on to stab Castro 29 times. He slashed Castro's throat and stabbed him over two dozen times.
Reports reveal that the two women who also participated in these robberies -- Christina Chavez (currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery) and Angela Rodriguez (currently serving a 99-year prison sentence for murder) -- were convicted on lesser charges and remain in prison.
The two were arrested that night. But following the murder, Ramirez fled to Mexico but was eventually arrested 3.5 years later. He was able to remain elusive until 2008 when he was captured near Brownsville, Texas.
Seth Kretzer, Ramirez’s lawyer, argued the Texas Department of Criminal Justice is violating the death row inmate’s First Amendment rights to practice his religion. Calling the ban on vocal prayer a spiritual "gag order", he said in court documents, "It is hostile toward religion, denying religious exercise at the precise moment it is most needed: when someone is transitioning from this life to the next."
Dana Moore, who is Ramirez’s spiritual adviser for the last four years, said the request is about letting him practice his Christian faith and treating him "with a certain amount of dignity".
"John’s sentence wasn’t death and you can’t have any meaningful contact," said Moore, who is pastor at Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi. "He is paying for his crime. I guess the question that would come up, is that not enough?"
However, Mark Skurka, the lead prosecutor at Ramirez’s 2008 trial and who is now retired after later serving as Nueces County district attorney, said, "Pablo Castro didn’t get to have somebody praying over him as this guy stabbed him 29 times. Pablo Castro didn’t get afforded such niceties and things like to have a clergyman present."
“He was a good guy. He would help people out in the neighborhood. Everybody liked him,” Skurka said.