Waltrip High School has a memorial to the girls. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says, Peter Anthony Cantu (AP Photo/Dept. 0000008539 00000 n "I'd like to have heard, the last 17 years, someone say 'I love you, dad.' You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. /Length 1385 [38], Seventeen years after the crimes, Peter Anthony Cantu was executed on August 17, 2010. This prompted Medelln to say the gang "had fun" and that details would appear on the news. [22], Four days after the murders, the girls' bodies were found in the park during hot weather conditions. First published on August 17, 2010 / 5:39 PM. Failed to remove flower. Ertman tried to help. While were at it maybe some pads for Jorge Sr. for his meets with Bubba. The medical examiner testified that Elizabeth's two front teeth were knocked out of her brutalized mouth before she died and that two of Jennifer's ribs were broken after she had died. The 61-year-old died Monday, said Andy Kahan, a Houston crime victims advocate. After the belt broke, the killers used her own shoelaces to finish their job. Laura Ingraham today said shes got incident after incident of things like this committed by illegals. Randy commandeered the news van and went to the scene that was now bustling with police activity. Pea brushed aside Medelln's hand and continued walking. xc```b``^dL`c@ >f(T0Fk^350QxA]gY=kfNy-3&00xLd$OexQ8 9L-K~p800.m``:Q *R Medellin was one of six teenagers arrested and charged with the 1993 gang rape and murders of Elizabeth Pea, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14. Outside the girls' school, Waltrip High, death penalty opponents were calling for a halt to all executions in Texas. Jos Ernesto Medelln appealed his execution, saying that he had informed City of Houston and Harris County police officers that he was a Mexican citizen, and that he had been unable to confer with Mexican consular officials. /L 64011 Adolph and Melissa Pena are tying to keep their family strong as they remember their daughter, Elizabeth, and her friend, Jennifer Ertman, who were murdered in 1993. This prompted Medelln to say the gang "had fun" and that details would appear on the news. [3], When the pair realized they were going to be late returning home, they decided to leave the party to conform to the curfew both had promised their parents. The next morning, the girls parents began to frantically look for them, paging them on their pagers, calling their friends to see if they knew where they were, to no avail. This photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shows death row inmate Derrick O'Brien who is scheduled for execution at the Texas prison in Huntsville, Tuesday, May 16, 2006. August 17, 2010 / 5:39 PM All those believed responsible were ultimately arrested. /Length 166 /Pages 63 0 R Two VERY important things in the criminal justice system have changed as a result of these murders. [36] Governor Perry rejected calls from Mexico and Washington, DC, to delay the execution, citing the torture, rape, and strangulation of two teenaged girls in Houston 15 years ago as just cause for the death penalty. They should have hung them. I attended all five trials with the Ertmans and know too well the awful things that they and the Penas had to hear and see in the course of seeing Justice served for their girls. I went to school with them. Cantu is the last of three men scheduled to die by lethal injection for the June 1993 murders of 14-year-old Jennifer Ertman and 16-year-old Elizabeth Pena. I assume that's why it's left such a strong impact on me. Elizabeth Christine Pea (June 21, 1977 June 24, 1993) and Jennifer Lee Ertman (August 15, 1978 June 24, 1993) were close friends who both attended Waltrip High School. I have no good words left for President Bush. [48] Another memorial exists at T.C. Anderson, a Houston Police Department officer who worked on the murder case, described the murder as "part of the impetus for the antigang programs in Houston." 0000004107 00000 n When the police followed this suggestion, they found the badly decaying bodies of Jenny and Elizabeth. Thanks for your help! Verify and try again. Derrick Sean O'Brien was the first to be executed, on July 11, 2006. 2) Your immigration ideas are either traitorous or you have sold out to big business over consumers. Sorry! Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena, ages 14 and 15, were walking home from a party, taking a shortcut to make it home by their 11 p.m. curfew on June 24, 1993. Villarreal was convicted of murder in 1994 for his involvement in the rape and murder of Jennifer Ertman, 14, and Elizabeth Pena, 16, in 1993 during a gang initiation. Testimony showed that Raul lasted through three of the members before briefly losing consciousness. Please enter your email and password to sign in. The murder of the two girls made headlines in Texas newspapers due to the nature of the crime and the new law resulting from the murder that allows families of the victims to view the execution of the murderers. The gang members took Jenny and Elizabeth from the clearing into a wooded area, leaving the juvenile behind, saying he was "too little to watch". When Peter Cantu saw Jenny and Elizabeth, he thought it was a man and a woman and told the other gang members that he wanted to jump him and beat him up. By . I was in a tree. 1 second ago. January 24, 2023. Ertman could have easily run to escape at this point, but ran to help her friend. "You're not even an animal," in the courtroom of Judge Bill Harmon, on Wednesday, Feb. 9, 1994. Hell, no.". Gang rapists/murderers are a special kind of sub species of vermin. / CBS News. There's no mitigation you could provide that will ever make me believe anyone who is fit to breathe clean air could or would commits this crime. Put a needle in her arm and just go to sleep. The break in solving the case came from, of course, the 911 call. Christina Almaraz was a childhood friend of both Ertman and Pena. Jester Park on Saturday for a memorial service for the girls who were slain The parents of the murder victims successfully advocated for the State of Texas allowing relatives of victims to have permission to witness executions. Jennifer was a victim of homicide. But after the execution Tuesday things were different. But he has sowered. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. As he lay writhing and moaning on the ground after being temporarily knocked unconscious, the gang members conferred privately to discuss whether to accept Villarreal as a member. You can always change this later in your Account settings. Resend Activation Email, Please check the I'm not a robot checkbox, If you want to be a Photo Volunteer you must enter a ZIP Code or select your location on the map. The rapes and murders of Jennifer Lee Ertman and Elizabeth Christine Pea, two teenage girls from Houston, Texas, aged 14 and 16, respectively, occurred on June 24, 1993. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. This is a carousel with slides. %PDF-1.3 I wish to hell he could have died the way she died.". [5], Leaving the crime scene, Cantu handed Venancio Medelln a Goofy wristwatch taken from Ertman's body, saying, "Take this, I don't want it. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Medelln reported that he had killed a girl and noted that he would have found it easier with a gun. The death sentences of Efrain Prez and Raul Villarreal were commuted to life imprisonment in 2005, following, List of people executed in Texas, 20002009, List of people executed in Texas, 20102019, List of people executed in the United States in 2006, List of people executed in the United States in 2010, "Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena Murdered While Walking Near Houston Park 25 Years Ago", "Peter Anthony Cantu Execution: Mastermind of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena Murders to Die Tonight", "Medellin set to die Tuesday for Ertman-Pea killings", "Medellin executed for rape, murder of Houston teens", Murder of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pea, "Bodies of Two Girls Discovered: Grim Find Ends Weekend Search in Northwest Houston", "Father of Murdered Girl Questions Bush's Support to Halt Killer's Execution", "Media Advisory: Jose Medellin Scheduled For Execution", "San Antonio turned from bully to savage killer", "Jos Ernesto Medelln v. Texas (Per Curiam)", "Texas Executes Mexican Despite Objections", "Dad confronts parole board to keep daughter's murderer in prison", "Ex-gang leader executed for '93 deaths of 2 Houston girls", "Last Statement Derrick O'Brien" at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice profile, "Father of Brutally Murdered Teen, victims' Rights Advocate Randy Ertman Dead at 61", Victim's "Advocate Won't be Witnessing Execution", "Parole Denied for Gang Member Convicted in 1993 Murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena", In Memory of Elizabeth Pea and Jennifer Ertman - 1993, Details of Cantu's 1997 appeal against his convictions, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murders_of_Jennifer_Ertman_and_Elizabeth_Pea&oldid=1142384022, Deaths by strangulation in the United States, Violence against women in the United States, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. The medical examiner testified that Elizabeth's two front teeth were knocked out of her brutalized mouth before she died and that two of Jennifer's ribs were broken after she had died. DOES SHE HAVE BLOND HAIR?!!?". How sick My heart is broken. Thanks for listening. /S 280 O'Brien was sentenced to die for murder of Randy's daughter Jennifer Ertman, 15, and Elizabeth Pea, 16, in 1993. Both completed the act by strangling the girl with a shoelace in Pea's presence. She and her friend Elizabeth were students at Waltrip High School in Houston. Derrick O'Brien, belted to a gurney, looked through the death chamber Pure Murder Chapter 10: JENNIFER ERTMAN - Chapter 1 < Prev Chapter. cemeteries found within kilometers of your location will be saved to your photo volunteer list. 0000011007 00000 n The murder of Jennifer Ertman 14 years old and Elizabeth Pena 16 years old. Are you adding a grave photo that will fulfill this request? In debate over slow executions, victim families wrestle with whether those condemned should suffer. Cantu, Medelln, Prez, and Villarreal then met at Cantu's residence, where he lived with his brother, Joe Cantu, and sister-in-law, Christina Cantu. Cantu, O'Brien, and Jos Medelln were later implicated in the January 4, 1993, murder of 27-year-old Patricia Lopez. Two brothers who had been with them but testified that they were not in the gang left first and passed Jenny and Elizabeth, who were unknowingly walking towards their deaths. On Friday, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles refused his clemency petition. curfew. 8 years. >> Put a needle in her arm and just go to sleep. The whole purpose of punishing these people should be to make them suffer. /ID [] [44] Ertman had wanted to have Andy Kahan, the City of Houston's crime advocate, to witness the execution of Medelln. What a horrible crime. Medelln reported that he had killed a girl, and noted that he would have found it easier with a gun. Ertman and Pea decided to take a 10-minute shortcut to Pea's residence in Oak Forest by following the railroad tracks and then passing through T.C. Of the six people convicted for the heinous crimes, five were sentenced to death. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. [5], Jos Medelln was executed at 9:57p.m. on August 5, 2008, after his last-minute appeals were rejected by the Supreme Court. The families of both Ertman and Pea strongly favored the execution(s). Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? The police were sent to the scene and searched the park without finding anything. The lethal injection was performed at 6:09 pm, and at 6:17 pm, Cantu was officially pronounced dead. The Ertmans and Penas are videotaping their protest for the parole board, in case they are not here in 18 years to protest in person. Shoelaces were used to strangle Pena. /Filter /FlateDecode Ertman rejected an invitation from Cantu's lawyer to come to his office and read a letter of apology from Cantu. Christina Cantu questioned why Villarreal was bleeding, and Prez had a bloody shirt. Use Escape keyboard button or the Close button to close the carousel. /Filter /FlateDecode The scheduled execution of Medellin has attracted international attention after the International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, said the Mexican-born Medellin and some 50 other Mexicans on death rows around the nation should have new hearings in U.S. courts to determine whether a 1963 treaty was violated with their arrests. Close this window, and upload the photo(s) again. O'Brien, one of six gang members, was convicted of the slayings of high school students Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena in Houston almost 13 years ago. [29] Although none of them were charged (Cantu had already been sentenced to death by the time he was linked to Lopez's murder), Lopez's murder was mentioned in the sentencing phases of O'Brien and Medelln. management. Death penalty opponents protested the impending execution. The death of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena led to a significant changes in victim's rights. Cameras caught Cantu cuffed and escorted by two officers still trying to kick news photographers. It worked. The girls were Waltrip High School students. Their deaths resulted in an outpouring of grief in the local community and spurred changes in criminal legislation in the state of Texas, which enabled the families of crime victims to speak to the defendant at trial and witness the execution of said defendant. Randy commandeered the news van and went to the scene that was now bustling with police activity. Eventually, the Texas Board of Criminal Justice voted to change the policy. Testimony showed that the girls' bodies were kicked and their necks were stomped on after the strangulations in order to "make sure that they were really dead.". Prior to his execution, O'Brien expressed his regrets for his actions to the families of Pea and Ertman. Seven minutes later, O'Brien was dead. Houston pitmaster goes viral after hilarious TV interview, Willie Nelson's new album is a lovely tribute to a fellow country legend, Two ocelots were photographed crossing a road in rare South Texas sighting, Astros GM Dana Brown sees bright future for top prospect Drew Gilbert, This is how astronauts see Houston, Texas Gulf from space with unaided eyes.