Texas Set to Execute Ivan Cantu on April 26, 2023

Ivan Cantu is scheduled to be executed at 6 pm local time on Wednesday, April 26, 2023, inside the Walls Unit execution chamber at the Huntsville State Penitentiary in Texas. Forty-nine-year-old Ivan is convicted of murdering 27-year-old James Mosqueda and 21-year-old Amy Kitchens on November 4, 2000, in Dallas, Texas. For the last 21 years, Ivan has resided on death row in Texas.

Ivan Abner Cantu graduated from high school and did not have any prior convictions. Ivan had previously worked as a laborer. In 1998 or 1999, Ivan was hired by his cousin, James Mosqueda to work in James’ mortgage banking business in Dallas, Texas. James eventually fired Ivan in mid-2000.

Ivan Cantu moved into an apartment with his girlfriend and her brother on October 15, 2000. The apartment was located about one mile from where James lived. In late October, Cantu informed one of his roommates that he was going to kill his cousin James. Cantu alleged that James was a part-time drug dealer of cocaine and marijuana. Cantu also planned to steal James’ money.

On November 4, 2000, Cantu left his apartment around 11:30 pm in his vehicle. Shortly before leaving, Cantu told his girlfriend he was going to kill Jame. Cantu returned to the apartment about two hours later covered in blood. His face was also swollen.

James lived with his fiancé, Amy Kitchen. On November 4, 2000, at the request of Amy’s mother, the Dallas Fire Department forcibly entered James and Amy’s home. James and Amy were found deceased in the bedroom, with no sign of struggle. They had been killed by multiple gunshot wounds.

Police quickly narrowed in on Cantu as a suspect. A search of his apartment a few days later revealed that he had a key to James’ home. He also had in his possession keys to Amy’s vehicle. Further, police found clothes in the garbage that had blood on them. DNA testing revealed that the blood matched James and Amy. Eventually, police also located the murder weapon at Cantu’s ex-girlfriend’s apartment.

Cantu was arrested, charged, and convicted of the robbery and murder of James and Amy. Cantu alleged that rival drug dealers were responsible for the couple’s murder. He previously had an execution date in 2011. That date was stayed to allow additional DNA testing.

Please pray for peace for the families of James Mosqueda and Amy Kitchen. Pray for strength for the family of Ivan Cantu. Please pray that if Ivan is innocent, lacks the competency to be executed, or should not be executed for any other reason, that evidence will be provided before his execution. Pray that Ivan may come to find peace through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Sign the online petition: Stop the Execution of Ivan Cantu in Texas

Source: theforgivenessfoundation.org, Staff, April 10, 2023

_____________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW US ON:

TELEGRAM

TWITTER

CONTACT: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

US | Conservative federal judge says death penalty for child sex crimes may be legal

June 24 (Reuters) - A conservative federal judge on Wednesday took the position that despite a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court ruling barring the death penalty for child rape, prosecutors today may be free to seek capital punishment in cases involving sexual offenses against children. St. Louis-based U.S. District Judge Joshua Divine, who was appointed to the bench only last year by Republican President Donald Trump, delivered his views in an unusual ‌court opinion issued on the same day he was set to sentence a Missouri man who faced a maximum prison term of 20 years.

Two men executed with AK-47 for raping and murdering boy, 12, in Yemen as children watch on

“Public execution is an even more grotesque violation of human rights, particularly in a country where the ability of the accused to obtain adequate legal representation and the coverage of the process is highly limited.” -- Human Rights Watch director Sarah Leah Whitson TWO pedophiles have been executed with AK-47s in front of a bloodthirsty crowd for raping and murdering a 12-year-old boy in Yemen. Chilling images show Wadah Refat and Mohamed Khaled being marched at gunpoint through the port city of Aden. Yemen is one of the few countries in the world where capital punishment is legal, and even children were in attendance to watch the gruesome event. Refat, 28, and Khaled, 31, were condemned for the abduction, rape, and murder of a young boy who was snatched after playing next to the house of one of the men. The pair reportedly dragged him into their home and raped him. When sentencing the pair, The Daily Star reported that the judge said, "After ...

Iraq: Saddam Hussein Execution was Moved Forward Because of Gaddafi Rescue Plans, Judge Says

Saddam Hussein's execution on December 30, 2006 The execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was accelerated due to the belief that the then Libyan leader, Muammar El-Gaddafi, had a plan to rescue him from prison, Judge Mounir Haddad revealed today. Hadad, who presided over the trial of Hussein, revealed to the Al-Arabiya Satellite Channel Point of Order program new details of the trial against the former president and his last moments before being hanged, including the 'health and welfare' votes for the magistrate himself . According to his testimony, the application of the death penalty to Saddam Hussein was precipitated because authorities knew that El-Gaddafi - later murdered in 2011 - was allegedly trying to bribe US guards who guarded him to rescue him from prison. He added that, contrary to previous reports from the local and US press, former Iraqi President Jalal Talabani gave his 'implicit approval' for Hussein's execution, an...

Might Ohio use electric chair again?

Electric chair at Southern Ohio Correctional Facility The difficulty of obtaining drugs for executions has some Ohio legislators talking about alternatives, including the electric chair. "There are other options," said Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, a co-sponsor of legislation to keep the supplier of execution drugs secret. "Rope is cheap," said state Sen. Bill Seitz, R-Cincinnati. No one is seriously suggesting - at least not yet - taking "Old Sparky," Ohio's electric chair, out of retirement, or returning to hanging, which the state abandoned in 1897. But Ohio's problem with lethal-injection drugs is coming to a head: The scheduled Feb. 15 execution of Ronald Phillips is 90 days away. Legislators are rushing to pass House Bill 663 before the lame-duck legislative session ends on Dec. 31 so that the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction can obtain drugs it needs at least a month before the execution. The legisla...

Halfway through the year, Saudi Arabia has already executed nearly 100 people

Almost 100 people executed so far this year as dozens more remain on death row for drug-related offences Saudi Arabian authorities have executed nearly 100 people so far this year, including at least 61 for drug-related offences, the latest of which was on 18 June. In response, Dana Ahmed, Middle East Researcher at Amnesty International, said today: “It is halfway through the year and Saudi Arabia has executed nearly 100 people, a grim milestone exposing the authorities’ unconscionable and unlawful use of the death penalty. Of the 96 people put to death already in 2026, an astounding 61 were executed for drug-related offences; 39 of them were foreign nationals and 22 Saudi nationals.

Florida executes Dusty Ray Spencer

74-year-old man becomes oldest inmate executed in modern Florida history A 74-year-old man convicted of fatally stabbing his wife became the oldest person executed in Florida’s modern history on Thursday, and the state is scheduled to execute another 74-year-old inmate next month. Dusty Ray Spencer was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. following a 3-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Spencer was convicted of the 1992 stabbing death of his wife Karen.

Reports suggest Iran executed LGBT singer Mohsen Lorestani 6 December

“Mohsen Lorestani, a Kurdish singer from Kermanshah, was charged with ‘corruption on earth’ in a public complaint. His lawyer told Kurdistan Human Rights Network, ‘The alleged incidents happened in a private chat.’ If convicted, this charge could result in death sentence.” The Tehran court alleged that the singer posted ‘immoral’ content which seems to indicate flirting. Iranian law appears to allow the execution of allegedly gay men despite no evidence of actual sexual activity. Indeed, the Iranian Foreign Minister defended the executions of gays and lesbians earlier this year. “Our society has moral principles and we live according to these principles.” Posts from Kurdish social media accounts suggest that Iran executed singer Mohsen Lorestani on 6 December. Although authorities detained the singer in March, news of his arrest only surfaced in October . He appeared in court before the notorious hanging judge Mohammad Moqisseh, infamous for his role in ...

ISIS releases images showing another 'gay man' being thrown off roof and stoned to death in Syria

Man thrown off roof and stoned to death for being gay in Syria. Islamic State (ISIS) has released images appearing to show another man being thrown off a roof and stoned to death for being gay in Syria. Last month ISIS released extremely graphic images of the execution of two men for being gay in Mosul, Iraq, and earlier this month posted video of an similar incident in Tal Abyad, Syria . The group has now posted images of another execution in Raqqah, Syria. In the images, a man is thrown off a roof blindfolded, with his hands and feet bound. A large crowd gathered below the area to pelt his body with rocks. According to the Mail, the man had been accused of committing ‘acts of Sodomy’, and was referred to as a ‘Child of Lot’. Most of the images are too graphic to display on PinkNews, showing the man’s body amid a mound of rubble. In addition to men in the crowd, women in niqabs can be seen watching the execution in some of the unpublished pictures...

Indiana’s new prison already equipped for firing squads

Correction officials confirmed Westville can accommodate firing squad executions as lawmakers, the governor, and the U.S. Justice Department push for changes to protocols. As Indiana inches toward what could be its fourth state execution since resuming capital punishment, prison officials confirmed the state’s next correctional complex is already equipped for an execution method Hoosier lawmakers have yet to authorize. The Indiana Department of Correction confirmed to the Indiana Capital Chronicle that the new Westville Correctional Facility, now nearing completion, is designed to accommodate both lethal injection and firing squad executions. Indiana law currently allows only lethal injection.

The Price of Silence: How Withheld Evidence Decimated the Glossip Prosecution

The upcoming retrial of Richard Glossip, now scheduled for September 28, 2026, marks a pivotal moment in the Oklahoma judicial system. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to vacate his conviction, the case has evolved from a capital punishment dispute into a fundamental test of institutional integrity. Central to this transition is the revelation of "Box 8," a trove of long-withheld prosecution records that exposed a systemic pattern of constitutional violations during the original 2004 proceedings.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog