David Santiago Renteria, 53, was executed by lethal injection on 16
November 2023 in Huntsville, Texas for the abduction and murder of a
5-year-old girl.

On Sunday, 18 November 2001, Alexandra Flores disappeared from a
Wal-Mart store in El Paso where she was shopping with her parents. The
next day, her body was discovered in an alley sixteen miles away. She
was nude, partially burned, and had a plastic bag over her head. The
medical examiner found that she had received two blows to the head and
was manually strangled before being set on fire.

A Wal-Mart security guard recalled speaking with a man who had left
his van running outside the store the day Alexandra disappeared. Store
surveillance video showed a man following her around the store for
about 40 minutes before walking out with her. A search of Renteria's
van found blood stains containing her DNA.

Renteria, who was 31 on the day of Flores's disappearance, was
arrested. He gave a statement blaming the murder on "Flaco," a member
of the Azteca gang he met in prison. He claimed he only lured Flores
out of the Wal-Mart and helped Flaco and other members of the gang
burn and dispose of her body. He said he participated in her abduction
out of fear because the other gang members were threatening his
family.

Renteria had a previous conviction for fondling an eight-year-old
girl. He was on probation as a registered sex offender at the time of
Flores's murder.

A jury found Renteria guilty of capital murder in September 2003 and
sentenced him to death. In October 2006, the Texas Court of Criminal
Appeals affirmed Renteria's conviction, but vacated the death sentence
because the defense was not allowed to rebut a prosecution witness's
statement that he expressed no remorse. Renteria was sentenced to
death in a new punishment hearing in May 2008. The TCCA upheld it in
May 2011. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court
were denied.

The start of Renteria's execution was delayed by an about an hour by a
last-ditch appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court that claimed the state's
supply of pentobarbital was degraded and would cause him "terror" and
"severe pain."

Alexandra's brother and sister, Ignacio Frausto and Sandra Frausto,
watched Renteria's execution from a viewing room adjacent to the death
chamber. Renteria's sister, Cecilia Esparza, watched from another
viewing room.

Before Renteria gave his last statement, he sang hymns in Spanish and
English as his sister sang along.

In his last statement, Renteria said "there is not a day that goes by
that I do not think about that fateful events of that day and what
transpired." He asked the Lord to grant the victim's family peace and
apologized "for all the wrongs I have done." He did not directly admit
to or apologize for killing Alexandra. He said that he forgave the
people who wanted him to be executed. He also told his family, "I'm
good, I'm strong, just know that I'm going to be okay." He said he
loved them and would see them in the next world.

The lethal injection was started. Renteria then said, "Our Father, who
art in Heaven...I taste it." He mumbled something, took two loud
breaths, snored twice, and stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead
at 7:11 p.m.

David Carson
(Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents,
Associated Press, Huntsville Item.)

David Carson
(Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents,
Associated Press, Beaumont Enterprise, Huntsville Item, Texas
Observer.)
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Texas Execution Information
www.txexecutions.org