Ivan Cantu, a Texas inmate who maintained his innocence in the murders of two people in 2000, was executed last week on Wednesday evening.
Cantu, 50, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the fatal shootings of his cousin James Mosqueda and Mosqueda’s fiancée Amy Kitchen. He was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. local time, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
Before he died, he addressed the victims’ families repeating his claim that he did not commit the crimes.
“I’d like to address the Kitchens and Mosqueda families. I want you to know that I never killed James and Amy. And if I did, if I knew who did, you would’ve been the first to know any information I would’ve had that would’ve helped to bring justice to James and Amy.”
Ivan Cantu was prosecuted for the murder of Mosqueda, 27, and Kitchen, 22, in a robbery that took place at their residence in Dallas on the 4th of November, 2000. The Prosecutors claimed to have found irrefutable evidence that the suspect (27 at the time) had killed his cousin, who was believed to be a drug dealer, and his fiance when trying to steal illegal drugs and cash from their apartment.
However, in Cantu’s statement during the time of the murder, Mosqueda was specifically singled out and murdered by his adversaries. These same rivals also posed a threat to the deceased inmate due to his cousin’s alleged outstanding debts.
Sometime before the day of his execution, he was also interviewed in prison by Noticias Telemundo, where he said,
“If you look at the evidence, you will clearly know that I didn’t commit the crime…I’m calling on the Collin County prosecutor; the governor, [Greg] Abbott; and to the whole world: I’m not asking for anything special, just what I’m entitled to by law. I want to be given a fair day in court, with a lawyer who knows what she’s doing and how to present the case, so we can prove my innocence and unravel my unjust conviction.”
Ivan Cantu’s lawyers had filed several appeals to stop his execution, arguing that he was wrongly convicted based on faulty eyewitness testimony, unreliable forensic evidence, and ineffective legal representation.
His case had also drawn international attention from socialites like Kim Kardashian, human rights groups, such as Amnesty International and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, who urged Texas Governor Greg Abbott to grant him a reprieve. A petition was also set up which amassed more than 15,000 signatures.
However, Abbott did not act on Ivan Cantu’s request for clemency and the sentence was passed on February 28.
