Rhiannon Ingle
A death row inmate had an extremely haunting 10-word plea to his victim's family before receiving the lethal injection.
On Wednesday morning (23 April), Moises Sandoval Mendoza received the lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas, following the March 2004 killing of mother, 20-year-old Rachelle O’Neil Tolleson.
While in the chamber, after a spiritual adviser prayed over him for a few minutes, the 41-year-old murderer took the opportunity to repeatedly apologise to Tolleson's parents and other relatives - her two brothers, a cousin and an uncle - who were watching through a window from an adjoining room.
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"I am sorry for having robbed you of Rachelle’s life," he said in his plea.
Mendoza also expressed his sorrow for his victim's daughter, who wasn't in attendance, after robbing her of a mother.
"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."
Speaking in Spanish, the death row inmate then took a moment to speak to his wife, sister and two friends who were seated and watching through a window from another witness room.
"I love you, I am with you, I am well and at peace," he said. "You know that I’m well, and everything is love."
He was pronounced dead 19 minutes after receiving the lethal injection.
According to prosecutors, Mendoza took Tolleson from her home in Farmersville, leaving her six-month-old daughter alone.
The child was later found cold and wet but safe the following day by Tolleson’s mother.
Tolleson’s body, however, was found six days later near a creek with evidence showing that Mendoza burned her body in an effort to eradicate his fingerprints.
Dental records were used to identify the body.
Days before the killing, Mendoza had attended a party at Tolleson’s home in Farmersville.
On the day her body was found, he had told a friend about the killing, authorities report.
It was this friend who eventually called the police leading to Mendoza's arrest.
Authorities stated that while Mendoza confessed to the crime to police, he was unable to give detectives a reason for his actions.
He told investigators he repeatedly choked Tolleson, sexually assaulted her and dragged her body to a field, where he choked her again and then stabbed her in the throat.
He later moved her body to a more remote location and burned it.
Ahead of the execution, Tolleson's father told CBS Texas that he will never forgive Mendoza for taking his daughter from him.
"I don't forgive him at all. But, you know, my heart goes out to his family," he 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."
Mendoza's execution makes him the third prisoner put to death this year in Texas and the 13th in the United States.