Derrick O'Brien

Sean O'Brien, then 18 years old, was one of six members of a Houston, Texas street gang who raped, tortured, and killed Elizabeth Peña, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14, on June 24, 1993. The two girls, who attended Waltrip High School, had been attacked as they took a shortcut home along railroad tracks and stumbled upon the gang, who were drinking beer after initiating a new gang member. Their decomposing bodies were found four days later. Shortly before his execution O'Brien also admitted to murdering Patricia Lopez, a 27-year-old mother of three, after attempting to rape her on January 4, 1993. In his confession he implicated Peter Cantu.

O'Brien was due to be executed on May 16, 2006, when his lawyers won a reprieve from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals the day before the execution was scheduled. Days later, the same court lifted its earlier order and cleared the way for his execution.

On July 11, 2006 his lawyers again tried to get a stay of execution, with an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. This was rejected about a half an hour before he was scheduled to die. O'Brien's lawyers had unsuccessfully argued that no legal procedure existed to allow condemned Texas prisoners to raise challenges that drugs used in lethal injections cause "unnecessary, excessive, and excruciating pain".

When asked if he had a final statement, O'Brien raised his head from the death chamber gurney, looked straight at the relatives of the victims, and said:

The lethal injection was started at 6:12 p.m. and O'Brien was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m.

Accomplices

• Peter Anthony Cantu, believed to be the ringleader, was also sentenced to death. , he is still on Death Row
• Jose Ernesto Medellin was also sentenced to death. Medellín was executed at 9:57 PM Central, on August 5 2008 after a four hour delay while the Supreme Court heard a late appeal which was disallowed.
• Venancio Medellin (Jose Medellin's brother) was 14 years old at the time of the crime. He took part in the rapes but not the murders. He cooperated with police, testified against the others (except Jose) and received a 40-year prison term. He will be eligible for parole in 2017 and is scheduled to be released in 2034.
• Efrain Perez was also sentenced to death. Because he was 17 years old at the time of the crime, his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and he was released from Death Row on June 24, 2005, exactly twelve years after the murders. , he is still in prison. He is eligible for parole in 2029.
• Raul Omar Villareal was also sentenced to death. Because he was 17 years old at the time of the crime, his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment and he was released from Death Row on June 24, 2005, exactly twelve years after the murders. , he is still in prison. He is eligible for parole in 2029.

See also

• List of individuals executed in Texas
• Capital punishment in the United States

References

• Offender Information Detail - 999131 Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
• Last Statement Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
• Sean Derrick O'Brien The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
• Jennifer Ertman & Elizabeth Pena MurderVictims.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
• Derrick O'Brien writes on the Abolition movement Canadian Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
• Turner, Allan and Rosanna Ruiz. O'Brien executed for rape-murders / Killer apologizes to the families of Peña and Ertman Houston Chronicle (2006-07-12). Retrieved on 2007-11-17.