Moises Sandoval Mendoza, 41, was executed by lethal injection Wednesday evening for the brutal 2004 killing of 20-year-old Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson, bringing a decades-long legal process to a close as her grieving family looked on.
In his final moments, Mendoza expressed deep remorse. “I am sorry for having robbed you of Rachelle’s life,” he told the victim’s family, including her parents and other relatives, who watched from an adjacent room at the Texas State Penitentiary.
He also apologized for leaving Tolleson’s infant daughter motherless, acknowledging that no words could ever undo the pain he caused.
After a brief prayer from a spiritual adviser, Mendoza addressed his loved ones in Spanish, saying he was at peace and surrounded by love.
Moments later, the lethal injection took effect. He gasped, then snored several times before becoming still. He was pronounced dead at 6:40 p.m.
Tolleson’s murder shook the small community of Farmersville, northeast of Dallas, in 2004. Mendoza had attended a party at her home just days before kidnapping her.
He left her six-month-old baby alone, who was later found cold but unharmed.
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Tolleson’s body was discovered six days later in a remote field. Investigators say Mendoza choked her, sexually assaulted her, and stabbed her, later burning her body in an attempt to destroy evidence.
“I wish I could say the same about my daughter’s death,” said Pam O’Neil, Rachelle’s mother, after the execution. “He was put to sleep. He felt no pain.”
Mendoza had tried to appeal his case up to the last hours, arguing that poor legal representation had denied him a fair shot at clemency.
But the U.S. Supreme Court denied the appeal, and his request for a reduced sentence was rejected by the Texas parole board earlier in the week.
He was the third person executed in Texas this year, and the 13th in the United States.
