Post by sclcookie on May 22, 2006 11:36:27 GMT -5
Son is eager to see parents' killer die
Leonardo Chavez III, who as a 9-year-old boy saw his mother and father
beaten and killed, said he hopes the execution this week of the man
responsible for their deaths will calm his dreams, especially the
recurring one in which his slain parents' eyes glow red.
"I still have nightmares - weird nightmares - about it," said Chavez, now
20, who sleeps next to a large photograph of his parents, Annette and
Leonardo Chavez Jr. "The dreams never leave me alone. I see little
monsters right where I sleep."
Chavez's parents were killed while house-sitting at a trailer near here
for relatives making a drug run to Mississippi.
A Cameron County jury in 1996 convicted Jesus "Jesse" Ledesma Aguilar, a
laborer and ex-convict, of capital murder and his 17-year-old nephew
Christopher Quiroz of murder in the execution-style slayings.
Both are from the tiny town of Primera on this city's outskirts. Quiroz is
serving a life sentence, and Ledesma, described in court as a ranking
member of the Texas Syndicate prison gang, was accused of orchestrating
the killings and is on death row.
Ledesma is scheduled to be executed Wednesday.
"They had no reason to do that to my parents," said Chavez, who like his
father is a plumber's assistant and carpenter. "That's why I don't believe
in the Lord. I haven't gone to church ever since that happened. My parents
were on their knees, and I just saw them get blown away."
Ledesma maintains his innocence. His latest court-appointed attorneys on
Friday filed a request for a stay of execution, partly based on arguments
that he was denied fair sentencing and that lethal injection causes
"impermissible pain and anxiety and constitutes cruel and unusual
punishment."
"I think (Ledesma) was a neighborhood bully, but he certainly wasn't going
to kill the fattened goose that was giving him handouts every week," said
Jon Karl Schmid, one of his attorneys, calling it a "classic case of
misidentification by a young traumatized boy."
Appeals courts ruled otherwise in the Palm View killings the morning of
June 10, 1995.
The Chavez family was staying at the trailer home of Rick Esparza, Annette
Chavez's brother, while he and his wife were in Mississippi.
Esparza, who was on parole at the time, agreed to testify against Ledesma
under an agreement with prosecutors that his parole not be revoked.
Esparza and Ledesma had taken loads of marijuana to Southern states and
sold them, but friction developed between the 2 over 7 pounds that
disappeared. Esparza stopped working with Ledesma and made subsequent
trips with his wife. The Chavez couple, according to court records, also
made at least 1 trip.
Esparza testified that Ledesma would stop by his trailer, make comments
about new clothes and furniture he and his wife had bought, ask for money
and express anger that Esparza was using Ledesma's Mississippi connection.
At one point, Ledesma threatened to take Esparza "out of the picture,"
Esparza told jurors.
The younger Chavez, testifying when he was 10, said he was awakened by a
scuffle around 5:30 a.m. He said he watched from the kitchen as Quiroz
shot his beaten father in the living room, then handed the gun to Ledesma,
who shot his mother.
Dressed for bed, both were shot in the back of the neck and died on the
living room carpet near a large television and ceramic geese. Police found
20 pounds of marijuana in a suitcase at the trailer.
Chavez told police that a Hispanic and an Anglo man with blue eyes and a
half-circle scar did it.
About two weeks later, he told his grandfather that he recognized Quiroz
and Ledesma in a newspaper photograph as the killers, but he failed to
identify them in a police lineup.
Neither of the two is Anglo or has blue eyes, but Quiroz had the scar.
Esparza's testimony about being threatened by Ledesma, who had sold a .22
caliber revolver shortly after the killing to a relative for $18, seemed
to resonate with the jury.
There were no fingerprints, fibers or blood splatters that linked Quiroz
or Ledesma to the crime, but an expert witness testified that two bullets
found at the scene were likely shot from the weapon that was sold.
"We've all seen 'The Sopranos.' You don't sell the murder weapon for 18
bucks in your neighborhood," said Schmid, arguing that detail doesn't fit
the style of a well-thought-out execution-style killer.
Former Cameron County prosecutors Oscar Ponce and Toni Trevio tried the
case; both are now federal prosecutors. Trevio declined to comment on the
execution. Ponce said he didn't immediately recall the case.
According to court records, Trevio told the jury in closing arguments that
the Chavez couple had the misfortune of taking the brunt of Ledesma's
threats.
"You've heard the saying, 'Being at the wrong place at the wrong time?'"
Trevio said. "Well, Annette and Leonardo Chavez were at the wrong place at
the wrong time. They were at Rick Esparza's trailer on the night when the
defendant decided to make good on his promise, his promise to take Rick
Esparza out of the picture, his promise to drop him."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio recommended a new trial for Ledesma
because the jury didn't have the opportunity to consider murder, with its
maximum penalty of life in prison. U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle
rejected the recommendation.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Tagle, and a petition to
the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case was denied last week.
Chavez, meanwhile, plans to attend the execution on Wednesday with a few
of his uncles. If it goes forward, he will see more death with still-young
eyes.
"I want to see him die," he said.
(source: San Antonio Express-News)
Leonardo Chavez III, who as a 9-year-old boy saw his mother and father
beaten and killed, said he hopes the execution this week of the man
responsible for their deaths will calm his dreams, especially the
recurring one in which his slain parents' eyes glow red.
"I still have nightmares - weird nightmares - about it," said Chavez, now
20, who sleeps next to a large photograph of his parents, Annette and
Leonardo Chavez Jr. "The dreams never leave me alone. I see little
monsters right where I sleep."
Chavez's parents were killed while house-sitting at a trailer near here
for relatives making a drug run to Mississippi.
A Cameron County jury in 1996 convicted Jesus "Jesse" Ledesma Aguilar, a
laborer and ex-convict, of capital murder and his 17-year-old nephew
Christopher Quiroz of murder in the execution-style slayings.
Both are from the tiny town of Primera on this city's outskirts. Quiroz is
serving a life sentence, and Ledesma, described in court as a ranking
member of the Texas Syndicate prison gang, was accused of orchestrating
the killings and is on death row.
Ledesma is scheduled to be executed Wednesday.
"They had no reason to do that to my parents," said Chavez, who like his
father is a plumber's assistant and carpenter. "That's why I don't believe
in the Lord. I haven't gone to church ever since that happened. My parents
were on their knees, and I just saw them get blown away."
Ledesma maintains his innocence. His latest court-appointed attorneys on
Friday filed a request for a stay of execution, partly based on arguments
that he was denied fair sentencing and that lethal injection causes
"impermissible pain and anxiety and constitutes cruel and unusual
punishment."
"I think (Ledesma) was a neighborhood bully, but he certainly wasn't going
to kill the fattened goose that was giving him handouts every week," said
Jon Karl Schmid, one of his attorneys, calling it a "classic case of
misidentification by a young traumatized boy."
Appeals courts ruled otherwise in the Palm View killings the morning of
June 10, 1995.
The Chavez family was staying at the trailer home of Rick Esparza, Annette
Chavez's brother, while he and his wife were in Mississippi.
Esparza, who was on parole at the time, agreed to testify against Ledesma
under an agreement with prosecutors that his parole not be revoked.
Esparza and Ledesma had taken loads of marijuana to Southern states and
sold them, but friction developed between the 2 over 7 pounds that
disappeared. Esparza stopped working with Ledesma and made subsequent
trips with his wife. The Chavez couple, according to court records, also
made at least 1 trip.
Esparza testified that Ledesma would stop by his trailer, make comments
about new clothes and furniture he and his wife had bought, ask for money
and express anger that Esparza was using Ledesma's Mississippi connection.
At one point, Ledesma threatened to take Esparza "out of the picture,"
Esparza told jurors.
The younger Chavez, testifying when he was 10, said he was awakened by a
scuffle around 5:30 a.m. He said he watched from the kitchen as Quiroz
shot his beaten father in the living room, then handed the gun to Ledesma,
who shot his mother.
Dressed for bed, both were shot in the back of the neck and died on the
living room carpet near a large television and ceramic geese. Police found
20 pounds of marijuana in a suitcase at the trailer.
Chavez told police that a Hispanic and an Anglo man with blue eyes and a
half-circle scar did it.
About two weeks later, he told his grandfather that he recognized Quiroz
and Ledesma in a newspaper photograph as the killers, but he failed to
identify them in a police lineup.
Neither of the two is Anglo or has blue eyes, but Quiroz had the scar.
Esparza's testimony about being threatened by Ledesma, who had sold a .22
caliber revolver shortly after the killing to a relative for $18, seemed
to resonate with the jury.
There were no fingerprints, fibers or blood splatters that linked Quiroz
or Ledesma to the crime, but an expert witness testified that two bullets
found at the scene were likely shot from the weapon that was sold.
"We've all seen 'The Sopranos.' You don't sell the murder weapon for 18
bucks in your neighborhood," said Schmid, arguing that detail doesn't fit
the style of a well-thought-out execution-style killer.
Former Cameron County prosecutors Oscar Ponce and Toni Trevio tried the
case; both are now federal prosecutors. Trevio declined to comment on the
execution. Ponce said he didn't immediately recall the case.
According to court records, Trevio told the jury in closing arguments that
the Chavez couple had the misfortune of taking the brunt of Ledesma's
threats.
"You've heard the saying, 'Being at the wrong place at the wrong time?'"
Trevio said. "Well, Annette and Leonardo Chavez were at the wrong place at
the wrong time. They were at Rick Esparza's trailer on the night when the
defendant decided to make good on his promise, his promise to take Rick
Esparza out of the picture, his promise to drop him."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Felix Recio recommended a new trial for Ledesma
because the jury didn't have the opportunity to consider murder, with its
maximum penalty of life in prison. U.S. District Judge Hilda Tagle
rejected the recommendation.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Tagle, and a petition to
the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case was denied last week.
Chavez, meanwhile, plans to attend the execution on Wednesday with a few
of his uncles. If it goes forward, he will see more death with still-young
eyes.
"I want to see him die," he said.
(source: San Antonio Express-News)
