Texas executed a death row inmate who was convicted for the murders of five people, including children, on Thursday evening after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to stay the execution.
“I want to apologize to my in-laws for causing all this emotional pain,” Ochoa said in his final statement before the process was initiated. “I love y’all and consider y’all my sisters I never had. I want to thank you for forgiving me.”
Ochoa was convicted in the slayings of his wife, two daughters, and three of his wife’s family members, AP noted.
“I accepted the fact as a child, at 12 years old, when I buried my mother, my sisters, my aunt and my grandfather,” a family member, Jonathan Duran, said. “Nothing’s going to bring them back. It’s up to us to keep their memory alive, rebuild what we lost. I can’t ever replace my mother or my sisters.”
He added: “After 17 years, me, my family, .. the whole tree. We can finally say we got closure, we got justice. ”
Prosecutors said that in August 2002, Ochoa went on a rampage in his living room after he smoked crack cocaine.
Police stopped Ochoa while he was driving soon after he opened fire on his family members.
Later, according to AP, he told police that he was spending as much as $300 on crack cocaine and even took out loans to support his drug addiction.
“While I was lying on the bed my body started wanting more crack. I knew if I asked my wife for more money to buy some more crack she wouldn’t let me have it,” Ochoa said when he confessed to officials.
