Texas executes 2nd person in 2012

The 6th Execution of 2012

George Rivas was executed in Texas on February 29, 2012 at a prison unit in Huntsville. Rivas was the confessed ringleader of a group that came to be known as the "Texas Seven," a band of convicted robbers, rapists and murderers who broke out of a maximum security prison in Karnes County southeast of San Antonio on December 13, 2000, according to Reuters.

He was executed for his role in the murder of police officer Aubrey Hawkins outside an Oshman's Superstore on Christmas Eve in Irving, next to Dallas.

According to Reuters, in his last statement, Rivas told his wife and the rest of his family that he loved them, officials said. He thanked the prison officers and said the other death row inmates "have my courtesy and respect."

"For the Aubrey Hawkins family, I do apologize for everything that happened. Not because I am here, but for closure in your hearts," he said. "I really believe that you deserve that."

Before he escaped, Rivas had been serving 17 life sentences for several crimes, including aggravated kidnapping, according to the Texas Attorney General's office.

Rivas, who was shot during the Oshman's confrontation, later told reporters he deserved to die for his crimes. In an interview published on Sunday in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Rivas said his appeals were exhausted and that he was ready to be executed.

One gang member, Larry Harper, committed suicide before he could be arrested. Another, Michael Rodriguez, was executed in 2008. The remaining four are all on death row in Texas. Donald Newbury was scheduled to be executed earlier this month, but his execution was stayed pending an unrelated Supreme Court case, reported Reuters.

Rivas was the second person executed this year in Texas, which executed 13 people in 2011 and has put to death more than four times as many people as any other state since the United States.

To read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-executions-usatre82007k-20120229,0,320737.story