The father of a murdered woman spoke of his last message to the death row inmate who killed her before receiving the lethal injection.
On 23 April, Moises Sandoval Mendoza was pronounced dead at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, but not before he issued a 10-word plea to his victim’s family.
Mendoza was convicted of the March 2004 killing of a mother, who he had snatched away from her six-month-old daughter.
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Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson, 20, was taken by Mendoza from her home in Farmersville, and while the child was later found cold and wet but safe the next day by Tolleson’s mother, Tolleson’s body was found six days later near a creek.
When she was found, it was evident that Mendoza burned her body to erase his fingerprints from her body.
Having been on death row for over two decades, his final words came as a plea to her family.
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The 41-year-old murderer apologised to Tolleson's parents and relatives.
"I am sorry for having robbed you of Rachelle’s life," he said.
Mendoza also apologised to Tolleson’s daughter.
"I'm sorry for that," he said. "I know nothing that I could ever say or do would ever make up for that. I want you to know that I am sincere. I apologise."
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Nineteen minutes after receiving the lethal injection, he was pronounced dead.
While Mendoza may have been dreading the day of his death, Mark O'Neil, Tolleson’s father has been awaiting the moment he could visit her grave and tell her that he has been executed.
"I love her, and I miss her. She'll always be in my heart. She will never, ever be forgotten," O'Neil told CBS News Texas.
The father then went on to issue his message to the man who took her from her family that day in 2004.
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"I don't forgive him at all,” he said.
"But, you know, my heart goes out to his family," O'Neil said. "I know his mom is still alive, and his sisters, and, you know, they're losing a son and a brother. But, you know, I lost my daughter 21 years ago to a brutal murder."
O'Neil shared that on March 18, 2004, he received a call from his ex-wife to tell him that his daughter was missing, but her child was in the home alone.
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A week passed before her body was found, with investigators setting their sights on Mendoza.
"Basically, he admitted right away that he did kill her," O'Neil said. "But he wouldn't admit to raping her. So, I knew from the very beginning, once they arrested him, that he was guilty."
According to court documents, the killer lured the young mother out of her home, choked her until she was unconscious, took her body into a field, and sexually assaulted her before stabbing her to death.
He then moved her body to a pit before setting it on fire.
"I can say that it's been really rough. The pain eases up, but it never goes away," O'Neil said. "And, I mean, it's basically destroyed my family."
Before his execution, Mendoza’s lawyers attempted to postpone the date, citing that he had an incompetent counsel at trial.
O'Neil said in light of the news: "Rachelle pleaded for her life while you were killing her, and now you feel like you have the right to plead for your life, and that's just not right.
“You should have died 20 years ago, and I have no sympathy for you."
Britt Jones