Texas and Oklahoma Set to Carry Out Two Executions Thursday, More Than Two Decades After the Crimes

Two men are scheduled to be put to death Thursday, one in Texas and one in Oklahoma, in cases that have moved through the courts for more than two decades, The Independent reported ^[1].

In Texas, John Allen Rubio is set to die by lethal injection for the 2003 murders of three young children in Brownsville, according to the New York Post ^[2]. In Oklahoma, James Pavatt faces execution for the fatal shooting of Rob Andrew, his girlfriend's estranged husband, a killing The Independent described as the product of a deadly affair plot ^[1].

Texas: Three Children Who Were Never Forgotten

The Brownsville case has hung over the Rio Grande Valley for more than 20 years ^[2]. Rubio blamed the crime on the children being "possessed by evil spirits," the Post reported ^[2].

Out of respect for the young victims, Liberty Bell Report will not describe how they died. What our readers should know is simpler: Rubio was convicted and sentenced to death, and his case has now been through more than two decades of review ^[2].

The final legal steps came this fall. Rubio was found competent to be executed, clearing one of the last hurdles before Thursday's date, according to a report carried by Yahoo News ^[3]. That finding matters because the Supreme Court has held since 1986 that the Constitution bars executing a prisoner who cannot understand why he is being punished.

His last request in Washington also failed. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Rubio's request, Rio Grande Valley station KRGV reported ^[4]. Unless another court or the governor's office steps in during the final hours, Texas will carry out the sentence later Thursday.

For the people of Brownsville, the date closes a chapter that began before many of today's high school students were born. Three small lives were cut short in 2003 ^[2]. The legal case outlived the childhoods they never had.

Oklahoma: A Clemency Plea Turned Down

Pavatt's case grew out of a high-profile 2001 killing, and he still maintains his innocence as his execution date arrives, Oklahoma City station KOCO reported ^[5].

Related D.C. Gym Gunman Identified as Matt Lambert and Found Dead; Police Look at a Condo Dispute as a Possible Motive

The state's Pardon and Parole Board heard his plea for mercy and refused to recommend clemency, and Attorney General Gentner Drummond's office publicly commended the board for that decision ^[6]. Under Oklahoma's constitution, the governor cannot commute a death sentence without a favorable recommendation from that board, so the denial left Pavatt with few remaining options outside the courts.

Pavatt's insistence that he did not commit the crime is the heart of his defense, and it has not persuaded the board, the courts or the state's top law enforcement officer ^[5][6]. Drummond's office has stood by the jury's verdict and the sentence ^[6].

The Long Road to Justice

These two cases share a feature that frustrates victims' families across the country: time. Both crimes happened more than 20 years ago ^[2][5]. Between the verdicts and Thursday lie years of appeals, hearings and petitions, each one a fresh reminder for grieving relatives of the worst day of their lives.

Americans of good faith disagree about capital punishment, Christians among them. Supporters often point to Romans 13, where Scripture describes civil authority as bearing the sword to punish wrongdoing, and to the principle that the gravest crimes deserve the gravest penalty. Others, including many pastors and church leaders, urge mercy and warn that no human system is free from error.

What both sides can agree on is that the process must be fair, careful and certain. In these two cases, juries reached their verdicts, judges reviewed the records over many years, and in the Texas case the nation's highest court declined to intervene ^[4].

What Comes Next

Both executions remain subject to last-minute court filings until the moment they are carried out. Liberty Bell Report will report the outcome of each case.

And we will remember the victims, whose names deserve to be spoken more often than their killers': three children in Brownsville, and Rob Andrew in Oklahoma.