Peter Cantu Executed By Lethal Injection
Mexican-born Peter Anthony Cantu, convicted in one of Houston's most brutal murder cases, was executed by lethal injection this evening, August 17, 2010 at 6:17PM. He was 35.
Cantu was the leader of a gang of six people convicted of the rape and murder of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena back in June of 1993. He was 18 at the time of the slayings. The other gang members present were Derrick O'Brien and Jose Medellin - all 18 - Efrain Perez, 17, Roman Sandoval and Raul Villareal. Two others, Frank Sandoval and Venancio Medellín, brothers of two of the gang members, were present but did not participate in the initiation.
The gang were performing a gang initiation in a park in Houston, Texas. The initiation consisted of Villareal fighting each of the other gang members for several minutes. Following this ritual, the gang members remained in the park, drinking beer.
At about 11:30PM, Ertman and Pena were taking a shortcut through the park to get home before curfew. As they passed, Medellin grabbed Pena and dragged her down a hill. She screamed for help. Ertman ran back to assist but Cantu and O'Brien pushed her down as well. Roman and Frank Sandoval chose to leave then. The remainder of the gang raped both girls for more than an hour before beating and strangling them. Their brutalized and tortured bodies, which were left in the woods, were discovered four days later, decomposing rapidly.
Cantu is the third person executed for the crime: O’Brien in 2006 and Jose Medellin in 2008, both by lethal injection. Venancio Medellin, who was 14 at the time of the murders, has been serving a 40 year sentence and is eligible for parole every few years. Villareal and Perez, whose death sentences were commuted to life in prison, will be up for parole in 2028.
The gang were performing a gang initiation in a park in Houston, Texas. The initiation consisted of Villareal fighting each of the other gang members for several minutes. Following this ritual, the gang members remained in the park, drinking beer.
At about 11:30PM, Ertman and Pena were taking a shortcut through the park to get home before curfew. As they passed, Medellin grabbed Pena and dragged her down a hill. She screamed for help. Ertman ran back to assist but Cantu and O'Brien pushed her down as well. Roman and Frank Sandoval chose to leave then. The remainder of the gang raped both girls for more than an hour before beating and strangling them. Their brutalized and tortured bodies, which were left in the woods, were discovered four days later, decomposing rapidly.
Cantu is the third person executed for the crime: O’Brien in 2006 and Jose Medellin in 2008, both by lethal injection. Venancio Medellin, who was 14 at the time of the murders, has been serving a 40 year sentence and is eligible for parole every few years. Villareal and Perez, whose death sentences were commuted to life in prison, will be up for parole in 2028.
